Aphrodite

My first tattoo

2009-01-24T23:26:00.003-05:00

I just got my first tattoo today
on my 24th birthday! It is of a
ladybug. I have been thinking
for a while about getting a
ladybug for a tattoo. I think
ladybugs are really cute. I got
the tattoo on my right shoulder.
I also want to get a tattoo for
the Japanese symbol of either
love or peace, or maybe both.
Another one that I want to
get would be in memory of my grandmother who
died last November. She was German, so I was
thinking of either the outline of Germany filled in
with color with her name and birth and death
dates on it, the German flag with her name and
birth and death dates on it, or the outline of
Germany filled in with the colors of the German
flag and her name and birth and death dates.
That is one that I'm still not sure about because
I want to try to make up my own tattoo idea for that.

First anniversary

2007-12-17T04:29:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since my mother-in-law passed away. If it wasn't for her, my husband Rolf and I wouldn't have had the wedding that we did in May 2006! She insisted on planning the whole thing, despite being tired all the time from her cancer and chemotherapy multiple times every month! The night before she died, I convinced my husband after I had gotten off work to go down to the hospital when he got out of work. He hates hospitals, so I knew that he didn't like that idea, but I kept bugging him about coming to the hospital after he was done at work.
He is now glad he stopped at EMMC on the way home that night, because the next morning at about 4am we got a call from his dad, who had stayed overnight at the hospital, saying that she had just died.
I miss her a lot, but I know that my husband and father-in-law miss her even more!

Springtime

2007-05-30T22:54:00.000-04:00

Springtime has come once again. I can barely see through the trees to the house next door now since there are so many leaves on the trees now.

The lilac bushes and apple trees are in full bloom and beautiful as ever. There is that renewed smell in the air, the scent of new growth, life, the smell of rain. The scent of sunshine on the earth.

Back in March, I went to the Boston Flower Show with my father-in-law and took lots of great photos of landscape displays, flowers, and flower displays. That day it was really warm and slightly breezy in South Boston. All the snow was gone and the feeling of spring was in the air.

Soon after getting back to Bangor, we received a few big snowstorms that dumped onto the state of Maine. The hope of the arrival of spring got postponed. This was a disappointment, considering that we had already had a week long taste of spring in mid-March.

Now that it's the end of May, the snow is gone for at least six months. About a month ago I planted some flowers and they are starting to come up out of the soil. The feeling of the soil between my fingers felt wonderful. I even planted some marigolds around the 16 foot flagpole I bought my husband for his birthday.

It's hard to believe that Memorial Day has already gone by, and pretty soon it will be the Fourth of July. I'm looking forward to the American Folk Festival in August, but that doesn't mean that I want the end of spring and beginning of summer to breeze by quicker than the blink of an eye. It seems like winter lasts forever, then when spring comes it goes by too fast and then the same happens with summer. The process repeats itself and the only thing that happens is that we all get older.

Right now, I'm trying to savor the warm spring weather before it gets cold again, which unfortunately, is continually inevitable.

2006-11-29T23:25:00.000-05:00

I'm rather excited about Christmas and all of the festivities that go along with the season. Recently though, especially since Thanksgiving has passed, I have felt like Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch" when I am at work. This tends to happen when it's really busy, after all, I do work for the largest corporation in the world....WALMART!!!

People spend way too much every year at Walmart, and I'm no exception. There are some customers that go into the Walmart I work at on a daily basis. That doesn't include those who work there. They spend a shit load of money shopping for materialistic crap that they don't need, then complain about how they have no money left to go grocery shopping or pay the bills, etc.

One day I heard a story that left me in disbelief. One of the associates that works in the toy department was saying that a woman who had come shopping with her daughter had made the irresponsible choice of purchasing a toy for her child and took the clothes she was going to get out of the shopping cart and left them on one of the shelves of toys. That didn't make much sense to me that a person thought it was a better choice to buy the toy instead of the clothing. Clothing is a basic necessity, especially in places such as Maine that get cold during the winter. On the other hand, toys are a luxury, which means therefore that they are not essential for living.

Then there are the children who go around Walmart with their parents, either sitting in the shopping cart, or walking beside it, and cry, throw temper tantrums and scream about wanting this toy or that toy. Kids these days tend to be way too spoiled for my liking. Christmas is less than a month away, yet children who I witness shopping with their families cannot seem to bear waiting to get that toy that they want so badly. Some of these children are the spawn of people who spend hundreds of dollars a year per child on Christmas toys, yet these are also the ones who wonder why their kids don't behave when they take them shopping to retail stores nationwide.

These bratty children should be fortunate to get spoiled, yet the want more. When I was a kid, my brothers and I were a charity case. We learned not to expect to see everything we wanted for Christmas under the tree Christmas morning or in brightly wrapped packages on our birthdays. We were the ones that got put on the charity Christmas lists and got used clothing from the Salvation Army and Goodwill stores. We were the ones that grew up in section eight housing where there was always someone stealing something. One year it was my Cabbage Patch Kids doll whose head got ripped off, the next brother's bike, the year after it was Barbie dolls or Power Ranger toys.

2006-09-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Rolf and I volunteered at the American Folk Festival doing the bucket brigade. The bucket brigade is a large group of volunteers who wander through the crowds of festivalgoers and carry buckets, collecting donations that help support the expenses to put on this event every year. This is the second year of the American Folk Festival.

In 2002-2004, Bangor hosted the National Folk Festival which greatly helped with kicking off the American Folk Festival.

This year, there was a band that was scheduled to attend the folk festival last year, but was not able to get here as the result of Hurricane Katrina. The Bahama Junkanoo Revue was dressed colorfully with extravagant costumes and carrying french horns, drums, saxophones and some various other musical instruments.

Every year, both the National and American Folk Festivals have been a massive amount of fun, vivid colors, and a variety of music and delicious foods from around the world.

It takes many volunteers and lots of money to hold the folk festival costing several million dollars each year, and hundreds of people.

2006-08-21T01:06:00.000-04:00

I finally had the opportunity to go to the beach on August 8. I went with Rolf (my husband) to Sand Beach on Mount Desert Island for a picnic and to have some fun. That day there were many small yachts and sailboats on the waters of Frenchman Bay. It was a hot sunny day we were in need of some relief from Bangor. We spent a few hours at the beach soaking up the sun and having our picnic lunch.

When I was little, I used to body surf on the waves as they came into the beach. Then I would get out of the water after a few hours of nerve-numbing temperatures, get something to eat and drink, and my favorite thing- laying on my beach towel sprawled out on the sand and let myself tan in the hot summer heat. There were also the times that I would join in building sand castles, or digging really deep holes (about 3-4 feet deep) then crawling in and burying myself up to my neck in sand.

After leaving Sand Beach that day, we proceeded on to Thunderhole. Thunderhole is an inlet in the rocks that was worn away over a long period of time. At the end of the space is a partially enclosed area. When the waters rush into this space, the rocks on the bottom churn about. Air gets trapped in pockets and the water slamming against the backside of this cave-like place causes the water to have the effect of sounding like thunder, thus why it is known as Thunderhole (aka another tourist spot for vacationers from elsewhere). It's a pretty fascinating place for someone who has never been before, whether you are a tourist or someone who has just moved to Maine from another state.

That day, tourists were swarming everywhere. On the beach, the mountains, and in Bar Harbor. Recreation vehicles were lining the street by one of the parks in Bar Harbor, and hundreds of out-of-state cars, trucks, and vans were cluttering the narrower street in this quaint little town which has an exploding population during the tourist season, from May through October.

Working at Walmart

2006-06-25T00:05:00.000-04:00

Working at Walmart is mundane. It wouldn't
be so bad if I had a different assistant
manager that I worked under for softlines,
or if I wasn't in ladieswear and on my feet
running around day after day. After a while
I begin to feel like a robot, doing the
same repetitive motions over and over again.

I get to do the same things every day. The
good part of it is that I learn something
new there practically every day. The one
good thing about Walmart, compared to
Burger King is that I don't have to worry
about getting burger grease on my hands,
fryer grease on my shoes and arms, and
smelling like a french fry every day when
I get out of work. Plus I don't have to
wear a uniform. I can wear my own clothes.
So if I want to wear my Superman shirt,
I'll wear it. Or if I want to wear my
Cheetos shirt, I'll wear it. The only
part about it that stinks is not being
able to wear shorts in the summer, but
we still can wear capris. Wahoo!

2006-03-27T00:26:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's me! I'm a slacker and haven't blogged
since February 5th. Gosh, I've gotten awfully lazy
recently with my blog page. I'll try harder to
not be so lazy with this page of mine.

Canals in Bradford-on-Avon

2006-01-31T16:09:00.000-05:00

While in Bradford-on-Avon I noticed that there were
quite a few canals around the town. In the center
of town, there was a canal lock system. The locks
would open and close when they were letting boats,
mostly house boats through from one section to the
other. They would close the locks, and then the
water would either rise or drop depending on the
direction of the boat.
On another part of the river, the Avon River,
I saw ducks and swans. It is illegal to kill the
swans, because they belong to the queen, in this
case Queen Elizabeth II. We walked through
several fields, and came to one near the river
where there were many sailboats out sailing around
the canal.
I leaned towards the water to pick some
wild flowers and that's when I discovered what
nettles are. The antidote to nettles is the leaves
of a plant that usually gorw near the nettles.
You spit on the leaf and the rub it on the affected
area.

London bridges

2006-01-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

Walking around London by
myself.
The day before the beginning
of the biggest Quaker event
that I have ever participated
in, the World Gathering of
Young Friends.
I took the train, the "West of
England" line into London from
Bradford-on-Avon (or BOA as it
is commonly refered to as). I
left on the 9:22am bound for
Waterloo Station.
I got into the station just
before noontime that
Monday- August 15, 2005. My
first goal after arriving at
Waterloo was to navigate myself
to the footbridge that spans
the Thames, winding itself
through the center of London.
The footbridge connects
Waterloo to Charing Cross.
On the bridge I found tourists,
locals, business people with
brief cases, bums with their
signs and paper cups out, and
panhandlers with their guitars
filling the air with music.
One thing I found fascinating
that I only saw in magazines
and on television before was
the double decker Routemaster
buses. Sadly I didn't have the
opportunity to ride on one,
because my ambition was to make
it around London by foot, and
because it would have cost extra
money to ride one. On the
otherhand, if I knew that they
were all going to be put out of
commission, I would have ridden
one while there.

My pretty scarf

2006-01-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

I received my first birthday gift today,
a scarf that I actually witnessed being worked
on when I was visiting my boyfriend last month.
His mom was knitting this beautiful scarf with
multicolored sparkly yarn. I'm so excited about
getting to wear it. I couldn't find a photo
of what it looks like though.

It's snowing outside

2006-01-10T12:52:00.000-05:00

There is white precipitation
known as snow falling from the

heavens.

Above the ground, the people down
below, the cars, houses, and even the
tallest of all skyscrappers.
It's pretty when it falls on the large
coniferous trees in the landscape,
on the grass and mountains, and the old

beautiful

houses around. Then comes the shoveling,
and that's the part that stinks, especially
when it's the wet sticky snow that becomes
so awefully heavy after not too long. Then
the trucks come along with their plows bearing
down on the pavement of roads and driveways,
removing the snow and dirtying it with the
mixture of sand and salt to prevent slipping
and skiding. Now the snow isn't so pretty anymore.
People trudge through it and dogs go pee and
take a shit in it. No longer is it pure and
beautiful, but flithy and disgusting looking.

Gay Activists Sue to Protect Gay Marriage

2006-01-03T19:14:00.000-05:00

from Associated Press - Boston:

By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON (AP) - Gay rights activists sued on Tuesday in an effort to block a proposed constitutional amendment that would put an end to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

The lawsuit, filed by Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, challenges a September ruling by state Attorney General Tom Reilly that found the amendment drive was legal.

That ruling allowed backers of the amendment to begin collecting signatures. They gathered more than 120,000 - well above the 65,000 needed to get the measure on the 2008 ballot.

Gary Buseck, GLAD legal director, said the Massachusetts Constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that "relates to the reversal of a judicial decision." Reilly should have blocked the question from going forward on those grounds, Buseck said.

The proposed amendment is designed "squarely and solely" to reverse the landmark 2003 decision by Massachusetts' high court that legalized gay marriage, Buseck said.

A Reilly spokesman defended the decision.

"While the attorney general does not personally support the proposal, we are confident that letting this question proceed was the right decision," David Guarino said. "This proposal isn't a reversal of a judicial decision, but an effort to change the constitution going forward."

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, one of the prime backers of the amendment, said the proposed amendment does not specifically try to reverse the court ruling but rather seeks to spell out the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Spinning

2006-01-03T18:38:00.000-05:00

Twirling in solipsistic circles
getting dizzy.
Eyesight blurred until each of the
individual colors of objects look like
one mixed color.
Oh, I feel sick from this.

History repeats itself with different
characters, sort of like rehearsing the
same Broadway musical with a separate cast
of actors each time.
Let's compare G.W. Bush to Julius Caesar
or Hannibal (and not the one from the video).
He, like Caesar and Hannibal did in their
days, is trying to take over the world, using
military force to slowly (or quickly in some
cases) conquer over the governments and
people in other countries.
His saying, "If you're not with us, you're
with the enemy.", in my blunt, nice and
Quakerly opinion is a load of elephant shit.
Basically saying that if you don't agree with
his methods and motives (modus operandi),
you're one of the "enemy", of which the
classification is up to him. We as United States
citizens are under another fucking monarchy,
a sovereign nation ruled by an evil, corrupt,
greedy, and egotistical group of individuals
with so called "ethical morals and values".

OPEN UP YOUR EYES PEOPLE!!

If killing and terrorizing others in countries
abroad, starting pre-emptive and extremely
unnecessary wars, and sending the economy
into a sharp downward spiral is called
ethically moral and just, then we have a
very wonderful government.
On the contrary, the exact opposite is true.

Monkeys

2005-12-09T00:17:00.000-05:00

Chimpanzee here, chimpanzee there!
Many chimpanzees everywhere!
They're so cute!
Can I please have one for a pet?
Please?

Poverty

2005-12-03T00:55:00.000-05:00

The miserability of being poor
outweighs the joy of being filthy rich.

Learn some Maori

2005-12-01T23:47:00.000-05:00

te aroha: love
te fa ka pono: faith
te rang e marie: peace

Bible verse

2005-12-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

So he answered and said "You shall
love the Lord your God with all of
your heart, with all your soul,
with all your strength, and with
all your mind" and 'your neighbor
as yourself'." -Luke 10:27

A view of God

2005-12-01T23:02:00.000-05:00

As life gives shape to death
death shapes life.
As light gives shape to darkness
darkness shapes light.
So as God.
So as the Universe.
As God gives shape to the Universe,
the Universe shapes God.
God is change.

-Octavia Butler

A Song from WGYF

2005-12-01T22:50:00.000-05:00

You are the vine, we are the branches,
keep us abiding in you (2x)

CHORUS (2x)

Then we'll grow
in your love
Then we'll go
in your name
That the world
will surely know
That you have the power
to heal and to save
(from John 15)

Rent - Day Two

2005-11-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

Today I saw Rent... again, for day two, and this
time I took some notes on the
movie. This is what I got from it and was I thought:

Seasons of Love for the opening was such a beautiful
and inspiring. I remember when this same song was
sung by both Orono and Walton students and how
beautiful it was then too. It had tremendous energy
involved, and this was before I had even seen the
musical on Broadway, before the four day trip to New
York City, the Big Apple, the Hollywood of the East Coast.
That day we sung this song for the first time in large
group of people in front of an audience was at the Orono
Universalist Unitarian Church. We were shinnning brightly
that spring day.

I'd be willing to die for a taste of what Angel had.

"I'm a New Yorker! Fear's my life!"

"This is Calcutta, Bohemia is dead."

The beauty of the light from the burning eviction
notices rolling out of metal garbage cans as everyone
on Avenue A is standing on their apartment balconies.

"..And now our dreams can be reality.."

Mimi and the Cat Scratch Club.

"Will I lose my dignity? Will someone care?"

The poetic sight of Angel drumming on the bottom of a
plastic bucket with wooden drumsticks.

"There's only us, there's only this."

Alphabet City avant garde.

Roger singing "One Song Glory" on the rooftop of the
apartment building after getting back to New York City
from New Mexico on a coach bus. He kept thinking of Mimi.

Riot at Maureen's protest/performance.

"New York City.... Center of the Universe."

The scene at the cafe after Maureen's awareness protest
when the residents of Avenue A discover that Benny is in
the same cafe as they are, and sitting at a table right
beside their's. They dance on the tables and on top of the
bar, Collins erases part of the menu specials at writes in
caps "Fight AIDS", and singing at the top of their lungs.
The first time I saw the movie, on Saturday (11/26), I was
laughing through this whole particular scene because of the
hilarity of it.

I love Gardenburgers

2005-11-17T22:08:00.000-05:00

I love veggie burgers!
I tried something new tonight,
making a grilled cheese sandwich
on a bagel, with a veggie medley
Gardenburger, some onion and
cheese. It was really good. Also,
now that I'm working less hours
because of being at my internship
for part of the time I would be
working, I'm dirt poor, even more
than I was before. Apartment
living has brought on a drastic
dietary for me, I'm eating
significantly less meat
than I was previously, which wasn't
much in the first place. My main
sources of protein now are veggie
sausage (which I first tried last
month at the YAF retreat, mmmmmm
......good), veggie burgers, and
beans. I have yet to try the veggie
chicken, which I have heard is good
too. Next will be tofu, which I
also like.

Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project

2005-11-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

Moises Kaufman and the rest of the crew from the
Tectonic Theater Project have decided to perform
The Laramie Project at Penobscot Theatre, and the
performance is playing from November 2 through
November 13 at the Bangor Opera House.

I first saw this performance when I was still in
high school when the Tectonic Theater Project came
to Orono High School, and was sponsored by the
Diversity Team, an extracurricular club designed
to promote awareness, stop hate within ourselves
and the high school, and try to reduce and/or
resolve intolerance and ignorance that was
displayed both in the classrooms and the hallways
of Orono H.S.

Here is what some Laramie High School students had
to say when interviewed in February 2002 (Time Magazine):

"As a freshman at Laramie Junior High School, I was
shocked when I heard the horrible news. It's sad that
it takes a small town in Wyoming for everyone to
acknowledge the abuse and discrimination going on in
the world. Now Laramie is judged as a town, and the
people in the town are also being judged because of
their actions." -Megan Murphy

"The state of Wyoming is probably one of the most
understanding communities that I have ever lived in;
the problem is that people won't get to hear about
all the good things about this state for a while
because of what happened on October 12, 1998."
-Noce Nayigihugu

"It hurts to have negative opinions put on us the
way they have. You couldn't even travel somewhere
without being interrogated by people on what happened
and if Wyoming was really the state of hate crimes
like everyone perceived it to be. Laramie has changed
and will not be the same for me. Prejudices are not
just formed in any certain place; I have realized
hate can be anywhere." -Anna Schuch

"When I look at Laramie now, it looks the same as it
as it did when I was in seventh grade, when Matt
Shepard died. October looks the same now as it did
then, but I know that the October in 1998 left an
imprint of tragedy and guilt on Laramie, one that
still lingers today and one that will continue to
linger for a very long time. The town of Laramie has
gone through a lot, but only the people in Laramie
can tell that particular story accurately. The worst
insult a person can pay in this town is "you're gay".
But yesterday I heard someone say, "When you talk like
that, it's no wonder that Matt Shepard got killed."
When people start talking like that, I know that there
is hope for my town." - Elizabeth Hacker

"Laramie residents are accused of being the "encouragers"
of this crime that happened. Sadly enough, most people
do not even know where Laramie, Wyoming is and yet we
are still being criticized for the crime that happened
in this town a few years ago. Just as an educational
idea for those who do not know where Wyoming is (and
they should, those of you who criticize us!) It's directly
above Colorado and directly below Montana. And those off
you who criticize us, always remember that if it were you,
how would you want to be treated?" - Sarii Crites

"I was born and raised in Laramie, and this is the first
time I was ashamed of living here. Although the Matthew
Shepard tragedy was over three years ago, it still impacts
me. I remember crying for Matthew and I didn't even know
him. Even though Matt died such a horrible death, I admire
him. I admire that he wasn't afraid to be who he was, and
that he died standing up for what he stood for. I only
wish there were more people like Matthew Shepard."
- Laura Leigh Olden

I can remember what I was doing the day Matthew died:
not the specifics, but I was in eighth grade at that time,
and drugged up with some high doses of antidepressants and
that was also probably one of those days that I was
sleeping right through my science and math classes
because of the medications.

Quakers and their practices

2005-10-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

Even in early Quaker history, business meeting were
being conducted regularly, probably even more so
than they are now. In the time that this artwork was
done, more time was most likely spent conducting
Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business,
and was a governing pillar that was centralized
to villages and communities. I'm sure that the
meetings were even longer than they are now,
and to say that we think that they are sometimes
really drawn out these days!

Fun Quaker games

2005-10-30T23:16:00.000-05:00

Let's play Spanking Yoda!

Notice: Yoda isn't actually involved in the
process of the game.

Well, I can say that Yoda is a pretty wise creature.
Who would actually be cruel enough to spank him?

I think right now he's off fighting Darth Vader, Quaker-style!

Bush shit his pants and is now crying

2005-10-27T23:39:00.000-04:00

I was excited when I saw on the internet that the
nomination of Harriet Myers as a Supreme Court Justice
has been dropped by the nominee herself.
To think that even her fellow conservatives were trying
to keep her from attaining the rank of a Justice of the
Supreme Court is both hilarious and an obviously oppositional
decision
Here is what some other politcians had to say about her:

"I've also urged the White House, here's a time to unite
not divide." - Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking
member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed
the Harriet Miers nomination." - Senate Democratic leader
Harry Reid of Nevada.

"I do not believe that this nomination was withdrawn
simply because of the president's refusal to release
White House documents. That is a fig leaf to cover the
real problem which was a badly mismanaged and rush
nomination." - Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

And from another news report on the internet:

A Senate panel may seek testimony from a former Texas
lottery official who claimed Supreme Court nominee
Harriet Miers let a company keep its contract because
one of its lobbyists helped President Bush get into
the National Guard in the 1960s.
Littwin, the lottery's second executive director,
was fired in 1997 after just four months on the job.
He sued GTECH, saying it took "illegal, unethical and
coercive steps" to get him fired because he was asking
too many questions about the company's contract with
the state.
Before Littwin's lawsuit, Barnes, who was lieutenant
governor from 1969 to 1973, said he couldn't recall
helping Bush at the height of the Vietnam War. But he
later testified that he'd recommended Bush for a pilot
position with the Air National Guard at the request of
a Bush family friend.
The issue re-emerged during last year's presidential
race, when Barnes said at an Austin campaign rally for
Democrat John Kerry that he regretted helping Bush and
other wealthy young men avoid service overseas.

"I'm not surprised and it shows the maturity of the
party. They wanted a clear nominee." - Sen. Sam
Brownback, R-Kan., one of the most vocal conservative
critics of Miers in the Senate.

"The trouble is, the more we learned about Harriet
Miers .... the more it was clear that this was not
the right job for her." - Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?"
- Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.

"Politics must not undermine the principles and
standards we apply to every judicial nomination."
- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

"When his party turned on him, he was in trouble
and she was in trouble." - Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

"It's a telling statement about the instability
and ideological confusion facing the White House
and the Republican Party." - Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

"There was also an undercurrent from the liberals in
the Senate which suggested that anyone who attends
church regularly is biased and should be excluded
from public service." - Rev. Louis P. Sheldon,
chairman of the conservative Traditional Values Coalition.

She obviously didn't have even close to enough credentials
or experience for the job position and probably would have
overturned the Roe v. Wade decision of January 22, 1973.

As the hostess of The Weakest Link would say (in her
British accent), "You are the weakest link, goodbye!"
Or as Donald Trump might say from The Apprentice,
"You're Fired!"

Another Hurricane

2005-10-25T23:49:00.000-04:00

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I thought that the devastation
might be over for the hurricane season, but apparently I was
extremely wrong. Over the weekend, a hurricane hit the area of my
February 2005 vacation spot, the greater Ft. Lauderdale (and Miami,
though I wasn't ever there) area in Florida. It's sometimes hard to
fathom the destruction and wreckage that could accumulate in an
area that you have actually been to before, staying in hotels in
which you could go swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of
February when in other parts of the country there are huge snow
storms and below zero temperatures. I was in awe as the plane got
closer to the ground before landing at the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood
airport in Hollywood Florida. Since moving to Maine when I was a
mere three years old, I hadn't seen any palm trees or orange
groves in recent times until then. As the plane got closer to
the ground, I got excited because I could visibly see the palm
trees on the land below me. I estatically told my grandmother
about it (since I had a window seat), and she immediately asked
how I could tell from that far away which were the palm trees.
I knew, without hesitation that these growths below were what
I thought there were. As the plane got closer to the ground,
I could actually see the branches of the trees, which made the
experience even more enjoyable and special. Everywhere there
was a beach, there was pure white sand and crystal clear blue
waters, just like in the National Geographic magazine photos.
To me it was like being welcomed into heaven, or being a
Hollywood star stepping out of a limo and onto the red carpet.

Now this whole area is destroyed, and a disaster. Key West,
where the key limes to make key lime pie come from, is now
under a few feet of flood water. From Ft. Myers on the west
coast of Florida, to Miami and the Ft. Lauderdale/ Palm Beach
area millions of dollars of damage where done, and as a result
of global warming. Is it worth it to pollute the environment?
At the cost of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, many
billions of dollars of damage, I don't think it is worth on
penny.

Eathquake hits south Asia

2005-10-12T00:18:00.000-04:00

More traumatic than having it rain for the whole weekend
here in Maine was finding out that a 7.6 magnitude
earthquake hit on the Kashmir region on the border of
Pakistan and India, causing damage not only in Pakistan
and India, but also damage and tremors in Afghanistan,
Nepal, Bangledesh, and the Himalayas. The death tolls are
extreme. Aid from foreign countries around the world is
being sent to these areas, anything from blankets, food,
and medical supplies to helicopters filled with relief workers.
Here is a timing of the events of the earthquake.

Saturday

_8:50 a.m.: Earthquake hits the divided Kashmir region on
the border of Pakistan and India.

_9 a.m.: Pakistan Red Crescent ambulances join local relief
efforts in Islamabad.

_7 p.m.: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announces that the
United Nations has offered help to the governments of
Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

_10 p.m.: The United States contributes an initial $100,000 in
aid and dispatches 250 rolls of plastic sheeting, 5,000 blankets
and 5,000 water containers. The contribution later swells to $50
million and at least eight helicopters.

Sunday

_Rescue crews arrive from Russia, Britain, the United Arab
Emirates and China with rescue dogs, earth-moving equipment,
medicine, food and other relief goods.

Monday

_6 a.m.: U.S. relief supplies arrive outside Islamabad.

_3 p.m.: First U.S. helicopters to help in relief efforts land
near Pakistani capital.

- Evening: The U.N. airlift of supplies starts arriving.

Tuesday

_11:15 a.m.: Regional capital Muzaffarabad gets first major influx
of aid, when about 10 trucks from Pakistani charities arrive.
Scuffles break out.

_9:30 p.m.: A Boeing 747 chartered by the World Food Program lands
in Islamabad and begins unloading enough high-energy bars to feed
250,000 people for five days

The aspect that I'm really wondering about is why it took only
eleven hours for the U.S. to decide what to offer for aid for
these victims, when it took five days before anything was done
here at home for the victims of Hurricanes' Katrina and Rita.
What's the difference between the two natural disasters?
It amazes me sometimes what the United States will do for
other countries when in need of aid, but when it's here in
our own country, it takes longer than it should. I have asked
those from the World Gathering of Young Friends to hold these
victims in the Light and in prayer. Some of those affected are
our own brothers and sisters from the gathering: those that we
talked to, those that we shared meals with, those that we
learned international dances with and from, those that we had
fun with.

Record rainfall this weekend

2005-10-11T23:24:00.000-04:00

This past weekend it seemed as though the
rain would never end. Since last week, the (Penobscot)
river that I live close to has risen significantly,
and has again risen even more since Sunday afternoon,
when I was down by the bank behind the senior citizens
apartments. Sunday I had decided to take some photos
of the water, since I had my camera with me anyways.
The Penobscot since this summer has become my gauge
for roughly determining the weather. For a few
weeks this past summer the water got unbelieveably
low and one could see many of the rocks and trees
that are in the riverbed. The dam later got opened
up so that more water was continueously flowing over
it. After Hurricane Katrina hit, and then later
Hurricane Rita, the river rose once again to a
higher level. Earlier today, after a weekend's
worth of constant rain, I went to check out the
water level. I usually notice the level when I'm
out for a walk, when I have the time to do so,
such as what I did today after getting home
from work. What surprised me today about the
water level in the river was that on Sunday
I saw and took photos of trees that grow up out
of the riverbed. They were sticking up out of
the water at that time, from anywhere between
one and five feet. Today I was astounded to
find all of the trees below the water, not even
the least bit visible. There were only a few
very large rocks visible above the dangerously
high water level, and a big pile of granite
square-cut rocks as part of the dam that could
be seen also, but that was all that was
available for viewing.

Survival

2005-09-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

Recently, Anna Dunford, a participant at the World Gathering of
Young Friends sent me a long email about how she had little
money for the last year of university when she was still in
school several years ago. With some luck, and a little assistance,
she survived through it, which means that I can also get
through my financial poverty and will eventually have enough
to live off comfortably. There is a light at the end of the tunnel,
however I don't know yet where the end of my tunnel leads to,
or even where my next job will be, but I'll find out that soon enough.
I shouldn't worry, and should be grateful for what I do actually have,
because on the downside, I could be like the victims of Hurricane
Katrina, left with hardly anything, homeless and jobless. All I
have to do is have faith that God will bring me to where he
thinks I should be, and do what he thinks I should be doing with
my life. Because of attending the World Gathering, my faith and
spirituality have grown stronger, I can't tell you exactly how it
happened, but being there transformed me forever. As Mary Oliver says
in her poem titled "The Summer Day", "Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?" Or, as in "The Swan" by Mary Oliver,
"And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?"

North American reps to Africa

2005-08-29T22:09:00.000-04:00

During the World Gathering, it was decided that
there would be a second gathering to follow,
predominantly for those who were not able
to acquire visas to get to the gathering in England.
Those that were denied their visas were from
Africa, Indian, and various countries in South
America. From each continent, two representatives
with one alternative were chosen to go to the
gathering in Kenya from October 20-24. The
role of these individuals is to relay to the others
what happened at the gathering in Lancaster.
Along with the group letters that were written
for the absent Friends, these representatives
are going to do their best to bring the Lancaster
gathering to Kenya, but also to learn from those
at the Kenyan gathering and then bring both of
those sets of experiences back to their yearly
meetings, monthly meetings and others.

Languages and cultures

2005-08-29T21:04:00.000-04:00

At the Langauge Cafe workshop one afternoon
I learned some Bahasa (spoken by Indonesians
and Malaysians): Nama saya Jennifer; Russian: privet!;
Nepali: namaste; and

some Finnish: Ma on kveekari.

Also, I worked on my Spanish with Benny and Zaidee
(from Cuba), and a few others that knew
English: little bits or complete fluency. I have the
leading to learn a few languages that are not
native to me.

I watched dances from countries all over the world:
French waltz, New Zealand war dance, a Russian dance,
Irish jigs and reels, Nepalese dance, African dance and
so many more.
That was the same day that I learned how to play a diguredo.

Ah, the power of what you can learn from other Quakers.

Irish music, jigs, and the World Gathering

2005-08-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

As I sit here at the computer listening to

Irish music,

a band I discovered over the
weekend at the American Folk Festival

called Danu,

I remember the worry free
calm
and relaxed
atmosphere

of being in England
and at the World
Gathering.

The memories of the
multitude of experiences are dancing
through my mind like an
upbeat swift Irish jig or reel.

I want to be back in Lancaster with this great group of Quakers.

I want to experience the wonder of being with 225 others
every day for meeting for worship.

Hearing the sound of silent worship,
seeing people's prayers drift upwards.

World Gathering of Young Friends

2005-08-21T01:42:00.000-04:00

From around the world
many countries represented
Quakers come together for the World Gathering of Young Friends.
We meet on the campus of Lancaster University,
in Lancaster England to share with each other
our similarities and
differences in language,
culture, geography, and most

importantly, our forms of Quakerism

and how they influence our lives.
Lancaster sits in the heart of historic grounds of Quakerism.

Surrounding the area are Swarthmoor Hall
and meetinghouse, the Quaker tapestry, Firbank Fell,
Brigflatts meetinghouse, and Lancaster Castle and meetinghouse.
The castle is of historical significance
because that is where George Fox was jailed
repeatedly for his beliefs. Swarthmoor Hall was the host
of some of the first Quaker meetings and the home of a few of the founders of Quakerism.
Firbank Fell is where George fox often preached
the word of
God
and told others that there is that of God in everyone.

Early morning meditation and worship

2005-06-06T01:28:00.000-04:00

During the weekend of June 3, I was at a Young Adult Friends Quaker
retreat in Providence, Rhode Island. Saturday morning after waking up,
I spent a bit of time outside sitting in the grass on a braided chair mat.
First it started out with just reading part of Exodus in the Bible. My
copy happened to be the one I received while attending Youth Quake
in December 2003 in Estes Park, Colorado. So anyways, I was sitting
there and reading out of my Bible. When I decided to take a break from
reading, I put the bookmark in, closed my Bible, and zipped up the case.
I then continued to sit in silence for awhile, meditating, worshipping, and
listening to the joyeous squirrels and various birds making noises and
going about their daily lives. This morning was much different than
most that preceeded it. For one reason, it wasn't raining, overcast, or
cloudy. Secondly, the sun was streaming brightly and warmly through
the leaves of the surrounding trees. I don't recall how long I sat there
for, but it was relaxing and invigorating. That one morning sitting on
the grass outside the Providence Meetinghouse, was almost worth all
of the rain that New England has gotten over the past weeks since
mid-April. Too bad the sun didn't appear sooner. That morning could
have instead been many mornings sitting in the grass in silence,
listening and waiting for God.

a said poem: after William Carlos Williams

2005-05-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

a said poem after William Carlos Williams - By Jennifer Bishop

i have just
taken all of
your books of poetry
and i'm not giving them back
even though some of
them were your
favorites.
forgive me,
i was yearning to read more
but i wasn't able to find
any new material
until now.
thank you.
i plan to indulge myself
with poetry starting tonight.
i think i'll call it an immersion
into the world of poetry.
i'll get enjoyment reading it and
trying to decipher all of the metaphors
and what the bards
are attempting to reveal
to the reader.

This poem has been posted on one of Peterson Toscano's websites (www.p2son.com) since Sept 2003. Peterson also has another website, primarily autobiographical at www.homnomo.com in which he does performances on homosexuality and his own personal experience of participating in an ex-gay movement reparative therapy program. You can find out more about him by going on either one of his websites.

Living Forever

2005-03-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

Brazilian believed to be world’s oldest woman
Maria Olivia da Silva recently celebrated her 125th birthday.

If a person can live to be 125 years young, what is
next for the human race?
Could we live for a few hundred years each sometime in the future?
In the Holy Bible, there are stories
about individuals living to be as old 600 to 800 years and more.
Is that in the future of humankind? To me it seems like it
might be fast-approaching.
What really is the maximum life expectancy for a human?
That's a good question, because I think that people could potentially live for
much longer than most currently do. This is proven by the article I read on MSNBC.com recently (with the link included below).

from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7090143/

Bahamas

2005-02-28T18:24:00.000-05:00

Clear as the sky,
Refreshing as lemonade in the heat of summer,
Colorful as a rainbow after a thunderstorm,
that's what snorkling in the Bahamas is like.
The warm rays of sunshine upon my pasty white skin
in the middle of February. 1/4 German descent,
100% Floridian at heart. Burnt halfway
to a crisp at Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
My soul released itself while on a paradise vacation in
Florida and the Bahamas and it didn't want to come back, ever.
There is nothing to describe the weather of
mid-winter in that area of the globe except to say that
an epiphany opened
inside of me. Nothing holding me back from staying
there besides school obligations and my current life in Maine.
Took an airplane back to snow and dredful cold.

Aphrodite

2005-02-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love

I have always been intrigued by Aphrodite, even in high school when I took a mythology class. She is as beautiful as a sunset, a flower with rain on the petals, or the first leaves on the trees in spring time. More recently she has influenced me. I have a print off from the internet of her in my bedroom, hoping to get a copy of the real thing some day. My English teacher from high school who taught the great and wonderful things about poetry, writing, books and the Greek gods and goddesses still has a painting of Aphrodite by Botticelli hanging over the doorway of his classroom. There is so much to learn from poets, writers, artists, musicians, Greek gods and goddesses, and actors that it is unbelievable and astounding all at the same time. To me, it's like being on a constant roller coaster ride or maybe on a plane going towards someplace you've wanted to explore for the longest time ever. The adrenaline rush is amazing, all while the blood is quickly surging through all of the veins and arteries in your body. It's like being on a continual high, from life and all that it has to offer.

http://www.goddess-gallery.com/aphrod.html

http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/aphrodite.html