June 29, 2012
“We're talking
dream date compared to my horror. It started out fine, she's a very nice
person, and we're sitting and we're talking at this Ethiopian restaurant that
she wanted to go to. And I was making jokes, you know like, "Hey I didn't
know that they had food in Ethiopia? This will be a quick meal. I'll order two
empty plates and we can leave." Yeah, nothing from her not even a smile.” - Harry Burns (Character from “When
Harry met Sally”)
Happy Friday!
Aloha.
“I’ll have what she’s having.” Ha!
---
--- ---
Congratulations to the Obama Administration
on their health care law declared legal by the Supreme Court.
Nope. Back to one! Back to the beginning…
What I wasn’t alright with was the individual mandate. Really. Please.
I don’t mind many of the health care law
reforms.
Many of our “working poor” and middle-class
will be able to have health care with previous existing conditions and people
will have access to prenatal care among many other preventative modes of
medicine.
I find that the health care law makes much
sense, however. What I was not satisfied with was many of the mandates. No,
Sir! Thank you.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
June 28, 2012
“One should respect public
opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but
anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary
tyranny.” - Bertrand Russell
“Death
by starvation is slow.” - Mary Austin
“Great entrepreneurs focus
intensely on an opportunity where others see nothing. This focus and intensity
helps to eliminate wasted effort and distractions. Most companies die from
indigestion rather than starvation, i.e., companies suffer from doing too many
things at the same time rather than doing too few things very well.” - Naveen Jain
“By showing hunger,
deprivation, starvation and brutality, as well as endurance and nobility,
documentaries inform, prod our memories, even stir us to action. Such films do
battle for our very soul.” - Theodore Bikel
Happy Thursday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance?
---
--- ---
Aloha, White House! I hope everyone slept well
as you ought to no matter what’s going on in the world. Sleep is what makes
humans strong, intelligent, calm, cool and collected. We slept like babies and
now we’re in search of a little organic café and food. Aloha, world!
“Obama care” or in other words “Romney care”
or also known as “Conservative Republican health care” happens to be on the
chopping block this morning by the Supreme Court. (Hope everyone’s had a good
organic / vegan breakfast.)
Two years ago, El Presidente Mr. Barack Obama
gave into much of the conservative Republicans’ demands to health care reform,
which the Conservative Republicans created “Obama care” reform in the first
place. Absurd!
Individual Mandate: To force American civilians, citizens and
bi-partisan constituents to buy into health care insurance or be penalized for
not being able to afford health care costs let alone a cup of rice is indeed
capitalist tyranny. I don’t want to live
in Singapore, but America is becoming more and more like Singapore. Yikes.
Now, we’re aware of the economical disparity
in America.
---
--- ---
What the upper classes don’t seem to be aware of is this: Most
of the country lives on $20,000 or less per year. Or less annual income as
middle-class to “working poor” median income!
For Duluth, Minnesota and Minneapolis,
Minnesota the average annual middle-class income per household is $20,000 (twenty-thousand). If you don’t
know what that means to live within those numbers and annual budgets all year
round, twelve months out of the year then you have no idea what humility,
hardship, sacrifice, stomach pains, hunger and mental distraction and
compassion means.
I don’t want to get into the specifics of it with you, however.
Today’s as good as any other day to write about it.
From 2001 through 2006 I went without health
care insurance because it wasn’t provided through my employers for those of us
who worked less than 32 hours in newsrooms at $6.18 an hour (and no this wasn’t
1952 it was 2001). Thus, we worked.
(I worked two other full-time jobs (at
a school (all day long) and at a woman’s transitional shelter (all night long)
just to make ends meet). I worked full 18 hour days at staying alive at a
poverty level. I could barely make $20,000 a year in those years. My pay at the
school was $4.11 and I received free room and board at the women’s transitional
shelter as a live-in coordinator, boiler specialist and caretaker of three
buildings, but to live amongst women who had severe drug (heroin) and alcohol,
prostitution and battery problems wasn’t a walk in the park. I dealt with
problems and the police on a nightly basis. I barely slept in those years.
Much of my nutritional value and intake came
in the form of food shelter food, white rice, pastas and cereals. For five
years in my mid twenties I didn’t consume a single vegetable or fruit. I
would’ve loved to consume vegetables and fruits but I just couldn’t afford to.
I felt like a shriveled raisin. Nevertheless, the cost of an apple was much too
costly for my impoverished situation and thus I lived without it.
Indeed there were days in which I went
without food because my food budget only allotted for $20.00 (twenty dollars)
of food every other week. No, not every week, every other week.
At first I was mortified. I panicked, felt helpless
and hopeless. I was mad as the dickens to find myself in such a crumby
predicament after dropping one-hundred grand of my Minnesota Grandfather’s
money on private colleges and universities. It didn’t get me anywhere. What a
lie that school would set me up for life.
My parents told me ‘never’ to ask them for
anything ever again after school and thus, I took them at their word and
starved. My mother went off to Harvard on her divorce settlement. My Father remarried
on his. My sister went homeless and she was found shoeless her freshman year of
college wandering the streets of Miami (I won’t get into the specifics of it or
it’ll tear your heart to pieces). What a family! Our family has always had more than enough to eat and
more than our share of resources; it’s just that the wealth has not been quite
evenly distributed. Greed. What a shame. It’s not a village. It’s a…
Not only, was I starving but those around me,
were, too.
The children that I worked with as a
teacher’s assistant: their main concern
and question daily for a year was this:
“ ‘Ms. Long, do you have any food we could
have?’ ” It broke my heart!
Thus, I started budgeting for peanut butter
and the most god-awful white cheap and shallow bread I could afford to bring
with me to school and pass out to the children who needed it most.
I didn’t care if it meant that I’d get less
to eat or nothing for dinner. Budgeting for that white bread and peanut butter
kept me going more than my own starvation, knowing that some of the most
impoverished students went home with a little sandwich or snack for dinner.
(I’m holding my tears back just thinking about it. Oops, two water droplets
just betrayed me. Thank goodness, I’m not sitting in public right now.)
Nope. I can’t seem to go on.
I’ll have to continue this later.
This “Obama care” individual mandate must not
pass or our people will most likely die of serfdom.
Much regard, respect and love for those who
suffer from real hunger in America and across the globe.
Gabriela
June 27, 2012
“A system of capitalism
presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism
cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by
savings, not credit creation by a central bank.” - Ron Paul
“Advocates of capitalism are
very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in
one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over
the unfortunate.” - Bertrand Russell
“America traditionally
represents the greatest possibility of someone's going from nothing to
something. Why? In theory, if not practice, the government stays out of the way
and lets individuals take risks and reap rewards or accept the consequences of
failure. We call this capitalism - or, at least, we used to.” - Larry Elder
Happy Wednesday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance?
“GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!” Ha!
---
--- ---
Notes, Thoughts and Questions:
*) Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Dear friends,
we’ve been saying prayers for the living. We’re expecting our friends to be
pachyderms, vivacious, kind, well meaning, generous and adaptive to these
floods. Our hearts are with you, your loved ones and your young. Peace.
*) Wildfires. Yes, our prayers are with the
living.
*) Ann
Curry: What is there to say? Need I say more?
Ann Curry is probably one of the best news
anchor women of all time, if I may say so.
I tune into morning “talk shows”, “news hour”
and “weather” (“Wake Up With Al”) (for ten minutes) to map out daily current
events (within 24 hours) and what I ought to take with me for the day as far
as the weather is concerned; for example, an umbrella or not. Dress like an onion. Ha!
Ann Curry is a wonderfully fact-checked and a
harmonious voice in mass media that I trust.
I don’t ever feel as though Ann Curry’s
pulling a fast one on “us”, patronizing, lazy, classist, elitist,
disrespectful, self centered, self interested, annoying, thoughtless, mindless,
heartless nor cruel. On the contrary. I think that Ann Curry is delightful and
human.
I find that even if it may be a joke upon The People, that Ann Curry (the reporter, news anchor woman) is indeed a woman
of the world and thus, she won’t flip her hair around like “a dumb love struck
teenager”, she won’t tell The People lies and she most definitely won’t be rude
to her guests and cut them off. Ann Curry is a reporter woman who fact checks everything (along with her team) and I
like her and her team for that reason, alone.
I like this human for whom she portrays herself
to be through her ethical reporting conduct as well as her directness. What is there not to like about directness?
Directness will either A) cause a human to
soil in their undergarments or B) look directly into the eyes of another and not
into the mouth of a lioness. This is a woman of an age. A woman whose Ancestors
not only do I respect but I also trust. Hip! Hip! Hooray! What a gem in a world
of so much dust.
With that said: (now that I’ve given much praise and
constructive criticism: What’s going on
at NBC? Has a Junior Vice President stepped into huge shoes that they must and
possibly can’t seem to fulfill? Why not question all? Is some Junior Vice President trying to make a name for themselves? I
don’t get it? One must realize that it’s not the first time in the history
of Television where people change Television formats because they believe that
they’re the first ones to do it.) Ha!
The Point I’m making is this: Trust, is tough to come by much less
recognized by those who can’t seem to trust to fall backwards into the arms of
responsible citizens who’ll catch any discrepancy, untruth and un-factual
information. The world has changed and digital mass media has brought about
free exchange of ideas on the port side. The floodgates have been opened and
we’re going to wait this storm out on the open seas. Thank you.
*) Yes, indeed, any review is a “badge of
honor” no matter how well it speaks of the Artist(s)’ work or not. Hip! Hip!
Hooray! To those hard-working professional artists who contribute so much to
culture, civilization and life in general.
*) Wow! $600 million! I don’t even know what that number means? (Not really because I know a little bit about the solar system.)
Disney and Marvel must be so proud, relaxed, trusting of the future and ready
for what comes next. Congratulations! No, because I wrote that I didn’t like
“The Avengers” film it doesn’t mean that I didn’t appreciate it. I could write
200 pages, easily on the mise-en-scene elements
alone. I have a few qualms about the
feeling of the film more so than the storyline, the cinematic syntax and
such… I have a qualm with how it left me feeling once I left the theatres (and
yes, I’m still thinking about it,) like I
ought to have swallowed the film down whether I liked it or not even though its fingers were being
jammed down my throat. Get it! I’m sure you did. I don’t mean any disrespect. I
really don’t. I give credit where credit is due because I’m not insecure.
*) Yesterday, I crossed a street.
A man of about 21 years young in a
green-four-door-car (I won’t give you the license plate) in diapers said to me
at a stop sign, “Do you know my friend ‘Steve’?” His voice sounded nervous and
obnoxious as though he needed a cold shower on a beautiful breezy summer day.
I looked over, scanned him and his party and
ignored the Caucasian boys driving around with “boners” in their pants. There
was no one else around at the stop sign.
I crossed the next street and the driver
stopped in the middle of the street, reversed and began to make a U-turn
upwards. He then changed directions down the street to the right. Ever so
slowly turned the wheel and the passenger in the car said once more, “This is
your last chance to get to know my friend, ‘Steve’.”
“Goodness.” I said out loud and continued to
walk forward.
What to do with little boys in diapers who go around harassing adult
women? Nothing. Ignore such pests.
I get it, boys are off the leash for the
summer and ready for some action.
Although, desperation is the quickest way to
get ignored and anything but a blow job in this town where the women are as
beautiful as Ticas, as intelligent as whip marks and smart as hawks and owls.
Cheers!
*) I’ve given up on the following materials for
daywear: silk and rayon. (I won’t get into the specifics of the material
compound, nevertheless, annoying (to
say the least). Don’t get me wrong; I
love wearing such materials, however.) (1. I hate that rayon has to be well
ironed or no go. 2. I hate that silk doesn’t breathe well enough and one ends
up sweating through such a beautiful archaic material.) I’m surprised, to say the least, that no matter how
many times one checks one’s zipper to be well fastened on rayon pants the
zippers do get exposed with rayon if the material doesn’t lay properly as it ought to no matter what. Look, if rayon isn’t well ironed out then it flops around like an unruly
sail in the wind exposing the zipper and that’s just improper, period. Ha!
Annoying! (It’s not necessarily improper. It’s simply an annoying material to
contend with on a daily busy basis.)
June 26, 2012
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the standard to which a grand jury believes that a crime has been committed. This term comes from the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution:
The right of the people to
be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to
be seized.
"Probable" in this case may relate to actual statistical probability, or to a general standard of common behavior and customs. The context of the word "probable" here is not exclusive to community standards and does not predate statistics, as some have suggested.
(Side Note) I’m here to tell you that as a law abiding American citizen and
civilian of Maya Indian origins / culturally Tica (Costa Rican) Latino, that,
if I get stopped for something as absurd and racist as “racial profiling” under
“probable cause” then I will sue this Nation under God for everything it’s got
and more to teach it a lesson in civilized conduct.
As a woman of color I’m already racially
profiled every single day here in Minneapolis. What more do you want from us?
Racist bigots!
How does law enforcement know who’s an
immigrant and who isn’t just by looking?
How does law enforcement know who’s an
American citizen and who isn’t just by looking?
Who are you kidding? Probable cause is such a
great and political Nazi tool to further oppression. Wake up! Wake Up! Wake up,
America!
---
--- ---
Happy Tuesday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? How about something tribal?
---
--- ---
“Health Care Law.” (Reform.)
“Obama care” is “Romney care”.
“Romney care” is “Obama care”.
It’s neither constitutionally nor legally
good enough for The People. Get it out of
here!
I’m going to skip the dissertation and strike
at the core of the subject matter.
*) (Yes, I’ll be redundant in making
Indian intellectual points.) That’s the Mayan language for you. A series of
repetitious prose however, shaped and spoken / written in different and
separate poetic questioning syntax and forms yet similar. That made sense. It
translated.
This health
care law is not permissible by any legal standards because it infringes
upon the rights of The People and their free will to choose, pay and accept
their current status through and by the means of lacking health care justice in
America.
If the
American Government can “enforce” a health care law based upon its constituents
being legally required and forced into buying services and products in the form
of health care then what’s next? Fountain drinks? High heels? Baby food? Seat
cushions? Absurd!
What’s the next product or service in which those constituent voters
will be mandated to purchase by law?
Will the government then enforce to have The People buy into any other
services and products that will benefit the affair of government in bed with
corporations? How cushy for corporations, no? Yes.
I think that America is a free enterprise
Nation.
The point is this: The hard working, good American People can’t
even afford medicine let alone their health care. Really. Seriously. Americans
cross the Canadian and Mexican borders daily to receive health care and
medicine at much more reasonable and affordable rates than those of America.
It’s a fact.
“Catch 22.” It’s neither justified nor just to implement such a “health care
law” upon The People to pay for services which they can’t afford nor want yet
have a dire need for health care reform in general.
(No, don’t get all shallow and
“puffball” on “us”. Keep up! It’s your responsibility to use your noggins, your
frontal lobes. Yes, you’re that
intelligent. Our children’s futures are indeed at stake here.) Wake up… (I’m respectfully whispering to
you.)
“Health Care Law” is a conservative health care
model based upon Massachusetts' ideal of "equal" health care rights
for the working poor and middle class and it benefits corporations because even
if citizens and civilians don’t have the money for medicine alone, still yet
under “Health Care Law” The People will be forced to consume medical services
and pay for such services which they can’t afford, thus falling into further
debtor’s jail. What. It doesn’t make sense. Why has common sense gone out the window?
(I know, I know.) (It makes
me want to go to an Ivy League school, study ________ and become The President
of the United States of America since one doesn’t have to be born upon American
soil any longer to become an American President…) (A little joke.)
(If you don’t know then you need to know
that Mr. El Presidente Barack Obama gave away his standing power (about two
years ago) when it came down to deciding about public health care reform and caved into what the Republicans wanted
when signing off on health care laws. The bottom line is that “Health Care Law”
was a push in conception by contemporary conservative Republicans, period.
Don’t be duped into thinking otherwise; otherwise, suckers.)
[Now,
the present conservative Republican Party isn’t the 1980’s conservative
Republican Party nor that of the 1880’s for that matter. Today’s Republican
Party would sell the American children’s kidneys to the black market if they could get away with it and
that’s why as a modern Republican female I’m against any ideologies that hurt
The American People and steals their chickens.] Can you just feel the hatred from conservative Republican lawmakers and
their toadies? Yep.
(That
goes for their Republican idiotic and deadly economists and politicians who get paid perks under the table by
the Republican Party to preach idiotic and deadly economical and political
concepts to the American public on National broadcast Television; ideologies
that state that low gas prices are bad for the economy and that political Nazis
would make for great presidents.) Yikes. What.
(Crude oil could potentially cost as little
as $10.00 dollars (ten) per barrelhead rather than $110.00 (one-hundred and
ten) and any politician who
defends and stands up for the gruesome rhetoric of presidential running candidates
who desire to electrify our Mexican brothers and sisters is simply
Machiavellian. Absurd and outdated!) Please.
The American people no longer have time for
rhetorical absurdities and idiotic deadly enforcements. Their children suffer.
Our American people suffer. Get your
heads out of your rear ends. What propaganda! Humble thyself! Menacing rhetoric could cost American lives.
Information is free.
Information isn’t a bag of tricks. Silly rabbits!
Information is sacred.
Information ought not to become wayward to serve personal purposes.
Information isn’t opposing to humanitarian
justified means with subliminal messages to go along with warm breakfast cereal
to persuade you to continue on with your catatonic sleep. Ha!
De La Pura Vida.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. Has
the Arizona Supreme court lost their minds? What Nazism have the Arizonians bought into? Who bought Arizona? The
Republicans or the Democrats?
Dollar signs are dollar signs and people fall
for that all the time. As an Indian I’m
here to tell you that money isn’t everything and in the famous words of my
favorite, “you can’t take it with you…”
Now, My Great Aunt Hanny who survived Holocaust
Germany used to tell stories about how the Nazis came and the Germans kept
quiet out of fear but it was all in vain. The Germans, too, died at the gas
chambers.
The arrival of the Nazi Party was quite
noticeable because the Nazis were really into enforcing racial and theological
profiling of the Jews by demanding people’s identification papers by all means
justifiable like “Arizona’s probable cause immigrant law” (creepy!). This is a cue to
get a clue of what may be coming down the pipeline if we silently stand by and
do nothing.
I’m astounded that the people of Arizona and
the United States of America aren’t up in arms about this new Arizona’s
“probable cause immigrant law”.
I mean, if the American political Nazis are
coming after our immigrants then they’ll probably find justifiable and probable
cause to come for us and our children just as well. No? Yes.
We must speak out against the political
atrocities of The People.
Our American people suffer greatly at the
hands of law making bullies, tyrants and fascists. Period. Who must they think they are? Gods. Then, they, too shall die like ones.
(A little poetry for you. We don’t pray to the Greek mythological and Roman
Gods any longer. They, too, came to pass.)
Are Americans really going to stand by and let Arizona not only racially profile
but also give law enforcement the power to search immigrants with probable
cause under an immigration law?
(Forget about becoming The President
of the United States of America, become a judge and rule the world.) Yikes.
What’s
happening to this American Nazi Republic Nation for which we stand under one
God… and our modern Machiavellian laws?
What’s
happening to America? If Americans don’t wake up quickly now, then the
American political Nazis will win by taking over our constitutional rights “this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.” (What beautiful words.)
*) Yes, I’m aware of the “hanging man” as a
Masonic symbol along with many others.
*) I’m also aware of the following two: A)
Masonic women who completely cover one eye with their hair also conveys Masonic
symbols in messages. How funny! Because hair in the eyeballs is so adolescent
and annoying to contend with not to mention bad for eyesight. B)
Psychologically I was taught that if a person wears their hair in their face or
eyes then they have much to hide in terms of psychological nuance and lies.
Yikes.
*) Ladies, it’s the 21st century,
write an e-mail or a text if you must convey Masonic symbolism rather than
using your bodies for wayward communication. No, I have nothing against our
Masonic brothers and sisters and they know this to be true. We’ve communicated,
we know each other and we respect one another. Thank you.
*) She told me, “Never trust White people.
They’re liars and they’re the devil. The things I’ve seen…” I looked over at
her. She was calm, cool and collected. She meant business. No, she wasn’t out
of her wits. She was quite a socio-politico intellectual conversationalist.
Thank you.
*) Vote anything other than for the
Republican Party (oh, that’s so painful to write).
America has had enough of Political Nazis.
Let’s put this regime behind us and move on.
June 25, 2012
“The
world is your mirror.” - Maya Indian
belief
"The
power of the world always works in circles." - Black Elk
"The center of the universe is everywhere." - Black Elk
The Lakota believed that their generous acts and support for each other made them
better people, and also helped them build communal harmony.
--- ---
---
Happy Monday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? Alright. How about something
tribal? That’ll get your blood pumping!
---
--- ---
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes
from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent".
--- ---
---
I want to begin by letting you know that the Aborigines,
the Chinese, the Native Americans of North America as well as many Indigenous
cultures of the Mesoamerica (Central and South America) think and believe of
the serpent not only as a positive and wise cultural symbol, but also as a
guiding “spirit” and as a revered deity. (Get hip to it!)
Now, my point is this: I and other professional artists don’t go
around making fun of the Judeo-Christian Jesus Christ or the concept of The
Father and the Holy Ghost.
I have much respect for many religious sectors
around the globe. Nevertheless, it seems as though many Westerners have very
little respect for the deities of the Indigenous.
In the Judeo-Christian mythology-theology the
serpent is considered the essence of evil. We also know that the Roman Catholic
Church either eliminated our deities or usurped them as their own turning what
was considered a positive deity into a negative one. (Sigh.)
Does anyone consider this when they’re making
something as complex as comic characters, cartoons or motion picture villains?
Why must the global Indigenous have to endure
yet another negative portrayal of what they hold most sacred as their serpent
deity?
I mean;
I don’t spit or urinate on crosses.
I don’t make fun of Jesus Christ in his
female garb.
I don’t make fun of the fact that Jesus’ best
friend Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.
I don’t make fun of Jesus rising from the
dead.
I don’t make fun of Jesus; opening a Fish n’ Chips shop on the Sea of
Galilee.
I don’t make fun of Jesus’ Mother being
impregnated by a ghost.
I don’t make fun of Jesus’ suffering, journey
and development.
As an Indigenous Maya I have a great deal of
respect for the Judeo-Christian deity.
I most certainly don’t pray to Jesus Christ,
the Father or the Holy Ghost (all in one). (I’m still confused about that.) Why would I?
I pray to Quetzalcoatl and the other
Mayan Deities which I was taught to do so in prayers as an Indiana Mayan child.
Of course, I do!
I have a great deal of reverence when it
comes to many other deities throughout the Universes. Thus, why is it that
Western culture can’t seem to have the same type of respect for our Indigenous
theological culture, deities and ways? It’s because our Western culture is
self-centered and lacks respect for anything other than itself. (Forgive them for they know not what they do.)
Eurocentrism and colonization are done for.
It’s now midway through the year 2012 and we
must begin to re-educate ourselves about theological inclusion not divide,
conquer and slain as my ancestors were by the Roman Catholic Conquistadores who
saw my people as nothing more than mere slaves and cattle for trade.
Arrivederci.
Salud.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. Please don’t urinate all over our
Serpent deities, they mean the world to us as your deities mean the world to
you. We don’t urinate upon your crosses, Star’s of David and Qurans thus must
you urinate upon our great symbols of hope, wisdom and knowledge? Nope.
*) No, I don’t believe the lies that the
Mexican Maya have told about the end of the world on 12-21-2012 in exchange for
tourist dollars. It makes me sick! I’m so disgusted.
*) December 21, 2012 is the beginning of the
6th cycle of the next 5,126 years!
Hip! Hip! Hooray!
*) No, the Classic Maya didn’t originate nor
were they as far south as Costa Rica. The Classic Maya were as far south as the
North-Western jungles of San Salvador. Please.
*) What do you mean people from different
religious denominations, cultural divides and politico sectors don’t get
together and converse, debate and disagree with each other? Please. To be
intellectually astute is to hold peaceful relationships amongst people whom we
may have nothing in common except for respect, decency and laughter in miscommunication.
*) As a Republican I love my Democratic
friends, not to mention that I married (definitely not a Republican). As it
stands the Republican Party doesn’t claim my vote in the upcoming November 2012
elections even though I’m a Massachusetts’ New England Republican Granddaughter
of the hard-working, middle class American Founding Families with their blue
blood still flowing through their veins. Thank you very much!
I mean, Mr. Romney stated in the primaries
that he’d build an entire electrical fence across Mexico and electrify our
Mexican brothers and sisters. Gross. What a Fascist notion in killing people.
What is Mr. Romney? A former U.S.S.R. communist? The Communist built the Berlin
Wall.
The Latinos don’t have amnesia. Remember,
theirs is a culture of long and unforgotten memories of oral traditional
storytelling form. These brothers and sisters can remember everything dating
back to the beginning of time. They don’t forget a thing. Careful.
*) Queen Elizabeth II reserves the right to
all the privileges in the world not to be
politico nor to speak and claim political standing.
I, however, on the other hand as a
professional working American artist, have one life-given right and that’s to
be aware of the times in which we sacrifice so much and so little is returned.
My job is to be one voice amongst billions. Thank you.
I don’t make a single claim to be any type a
Queen. No, Sir! That would be blasphemous.
I’m mere mortal.
I can only hope to see our leaders make good
by their people.
Of course, I’m privately politico and highly
charged. How lovely to be a contemporary woman with a literary voice.
No, if I stood in a room with most people, I
wouldn’t say a word about politics. I’m too quiet and reserved (no, I’m not
shy) for such nonsense amongst strangers unless I know people extremely well
and then I come out with both barrels blazing. Fun!
*) I was academically taught that a
professional artist became one when they’re paid in currency in exchange for
their work.
On October of 2003 I went to the bank and
deposited more than several thousands of dollars for a short film I had made
and guess what, no it wasn’t a loan that was in 2002.
It was real hard earned pay. That’s the day I
became a professional working artist. I was paid in full for my intellectual
astuteness in the understanding of my specialized and well studied working
field and creative professional services. Hip! Hip! Hooray! No, I’m not an
amateur filmmaker, I’m a professional; thank you.
I don’t play at being a cinematographer, an interviewer or
documentary filmmaker because I’ve failed at everything else or because I’m no
good at anything else.
{Rather I got here through hard work, much
money spent and time on becoming a real filmmaker. Try 13 years of my past life
dedicated to this medium because I meant business not because I needed to get
laid, a pet on the head or cookies fed. I’m not some poser-hack loser who
picked up a camera yesterday because I failed at life. No, Sir!}
*) Please don’t misquote the masters:
Coco Chanel quote: "Before you leave
the house, look in the mirror and take
one thing off."
No, your Grandmother didn’t make up that quote, because Coco
did. Please.
---
--- ---
Plato's account of true love is still the most subtle and beautiful
there is.
Published on June 23, 2012 by Neel Burton,
M.D. in Hide and Seek
He whom love touches not walks in darkness. —Plato
Whereas Aristotle is not nearly as interested
in erotic love (erôs) as he is in friendship (philia), for Plato the best kind
of friendship is that which lovers can have for each other. It is a philia that
is born out of erôs, and that in turn feeds back into erôs to strengthen and to
develop it.
Like philosophy itself, erôs aims at
transcending human existence, at connecting it with the eternal and infinite,
and thereby at achieving the only species of immortality that is open to us as
human beings. Not only does philia strengthen and develop erôs, but it also
transforms it from a lust for possession into a shared desire for a higher
level of understanding of the self, the other, and the universe. In short,
philia transforms erôs from a lust for possession into an impulse for
philosophy.
As Nietzsche put it in his book of 1882, The
Gay Science,
Here and there on earth we may encounter a
kind of continuation of love in which this possessive craving of two people for
each other gives way to a new desire and lust for possession—a shared higher
thirst for an ideal above them. But who knows such love? Who has experienced
it? Its right name is friendship.
In other words, if erotic love can be
transformed into the best kind of friendship, then it can open up a blissful
life of shared understanding in which desire, friendship, and philosophy are in
perfect resonance with one another.
Plato’s theory of love is fleshed out in the
Phaedrus and the Symposium. Like many Greeks of his era and social
position, Plato is most interested in the same-sex desire that can exist
between an older and a younger man, but there is no reason to suppose that his
theory of love does not also apply to other kinds of erotic relationship. That
having been said, Plato distinguishes the kind of love that can give rise to
philia from a baser kind of love that is enjoyed by those who are more given to
the body than to the soul. Rather than underpin the search for truth, this
baser kind of love is almost designed to impede it, and calls into my mind the
song of Fanny Crowne in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel of 1932, Brave New
World. In this song, Fanny Crowne compares love to soma, a hallucinogenic
drug that has been engineered to take users on enjoyable, hangover-free
‘holidays’, and that is described as having ‘all the advantages of Christianity
and alcohol [but] none of their defects’.
Hug me till you drug me, honey; Kiss me till
I’m in a coma:
Hug me, honey, snugly bunny; Love’s as good as soma.
In the Phaedrus, Socrates says that,
although madness can be an illness, it can also be the source of man’s greatest
blessings. There are four forms of such ‘divine madness’, prophecy from Apollo,
holy prayers and mystic rites from Dionysus, poetry from the Muses, and—the
highest form—love from Aphrodite and Eros. The madness of love arises from seeing
the beauty of the earth and being reminded of true, universal beauty.
Unfortunately, most earthly souls are so corrupted by the body, ‘that living
tomb which we carry about’, that they lose all memory for the universals. When
their eyes fall upon the beauty of the earth, they are merely given over to
pleasure, and ‘like a brutish beast’ rush on to enjoy and beget. In contrast,
the earthly soul that is able to remember true, universal beauty and so to feel
true love gazes upon the face of his beloved and reverences it as an expression
of the divine—of temperance, justice, and knowledge absolute. As his eyes catch
those of his beloved, a shudder passes into an unusual heat and perspiration.
The parts of the soul out of which the wings grew, and which had hitherto been
closed and rigid, begin to melt open, and small wings begin to swell and grow
from the root upwards.
Like a child whose teeth are just starting to
grow in, and its gums are all aching and itching—that is exactly how the soul
feels when it begins to grow wings. It swells up and aches and tingles as it
grows them.
The lover feels the utmost joy when he is with
his beloved and the most intense longing when they are separated. When they are
separated, the parts out of which the lover’s wings are growing begin to dry
out and close up, and the pain is such that he prizes his beloved above all
else, utterly unable to think a bad thought about him, let alone to betray or
forsake him. The lover whose soul was once the follower of Zeus among all the other
gods seeks out a beloved who shares in his god’s philosophical and imperial
nature, and then does all he can to confirm this nature in him. Thus, the
desire of the divinely inspired lover can only be fair and blissful to the
beloved. In time, the beloved, who is no common fool, comes to realize that his
divinely inspired lover is worth more to him than all his other friends and
kinsmen put together, and that neither human discipline nor divine inspiration
could have offered him any greater blessing.
Thus great are the heavenly blessings which
the friendship of a lover will confer upon you ... Whereas the attachment of
the non-lover, which is alloyed with a worldly prudence and has worldly and
niggardly ways of doling out benefits, will breed in your soul those vulgar
qualities which the populace applaud, will send you bowling round the earth
during a period of nine thousand years, and leave you a fool in the world
below.
There is in terms of the ideas covered quite a
lot of overlap between the Phaedrus and the Symposium. However,
whereas in the Phaedrus Plato emphasizes the relationship that love has
to the divine and hence to the eternal and infinite, in the Symposium he
emphasizes more the relationship that it has to the practice of philosophy, the
search for happiness, and the contemplation of truth.
In the Symposium, Socrates argues that,
if love is not of nothing, then it is of something, and if it is of something,
then it is of something that is desired, and therefore of something that is not
possessed. He then relates a conversation that he once had with a priestess
called Diotima of Mantinea, from whom he learned the art of love. Diotima
(‘honoured by the gods’) told him that the something that love desires but does
not possess consists of extremely beautiful and extremely good things, and
particularly of wisdom, which is both extremely beautiful and extremely good.
Love, said Diotima, must not be confused with the object of love, which, in
contrast to love itself, is perfectly beautiful and perfectly good. If love
desires but does not possess beautiful and good things, then love cannot, as
most people think, be a god. Love is in truth the child of Poverty and
Resource, always in need, but always inventive. He is not a god but a great
spirit (daimon) who intermediates between gods and men. As such, he is
neither mortal nor immortal, neither wise nor ignorant, but a lover of wisdom (philosophos).
No one who is wise wants to become wise, so too no one who is ignorant wants to
become wise. ‘For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good
nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself: he has no desire for that of
which he feels no want.’ The aim of loving beautiful and good things is to
possess them, because the possession of beautiful and good things is happiness,
and happiness is an end-in-itself.
Diotima then told Socrates of the proper way
to learn to love beauty. A youth should first be taught to love one beautiful
body so that he comes to realize that this beautiful body shares beauty with
other beautiful bodies, and thus that it is foolish to love just one beautiful
body. In loving all beautiful bodies, he learns to appreciate that the beauty
of the soul is superior to the beauty of the body, and begins to love those who
are beautiful in soul regardless of whether they are also beautiful in body.
Once he has transcended the physical, he gradually finds that beautiful
practices and customs and the various kinds of knowledge also share in a common
beauty. Finally, he is able to experience beauty itself, rather than the
various apparitions of beauty. By exchanging the various apparitions of virtue
for virtue itself, he gains immortality and the love of the gods. This is why
love is so important, and why it deserves so much praise.
For Aristotle, happiness involves the exercise
of reason because the capacity to reason is the distinctive function of human
beings. However, it could be argued that the distinctive function of human
beings is not the capacity to reason but the capacity to form meaningful,
loving relationships. Plato reconciles these positions by blending desire,
friendship, and philosophy into a single total experience that transcends and
transforms human existence and that connects it with the timeless and universal
truths of the eternal and infinite. For Plato, truth and authenticity are a
higher value than either reason or love, which aim at them, and a higher value
even than happiness, which is merely the manifestation of their presence.
This text is adapted from The Art of
Failure.
June 22, 2012
Silence.
---
--- ---
“The primary purpose of aggression is
not to hurt and maim but rather to change the behavior of another creature. For
that reason dogs clearly signal their aggressive intentions before acting.” - Dr. Stanley Coren
A note on animal behavior:
An aggressive dog doesn’t bite, rather they
whine, bark, and communicate pain and hurt even if it’s dismissed completely by
the one who drives the arrow deeper into the heart of the animal nearing the entrance
of a soul.
Furthermore, remember that a hurt dog becomes
aggressive to assert their high Alpha social status and that means some serious
social order amongst the animal kingdom. Respect
the pack leader or suffer the consequences while perishing.
---
--- ---
Happy Friday!
What a week! (To say the least: no?) Yes. (What
can one say? Nothing.)
Aloha.
---
--- ---
Correction: No, I think that any Mayor of Duluth under the circumstances would be “shitting in their pants”. (It’s your
language and your expressions, I simply use them to portray the times in which
we live in.) Salud.
---
--- ---
Shall we dance?
{I’m standing out on a particular marble
balcony overlooking a most magnificent view.
Please don’t step on the Republican women’s toes
while you dance. It’s awkward (to say the least).
They’re a strong breed of women who happen to
be Catholics, W.A.S.P.’s, religious; of
all sectors and extremely quiet about their politics and religious views,
nevertheless, they do believe in humanity
above all else, (it’s not a farce). And yes, that means contraceptive and
sexual education and abortion (as topics) as well as female illnesses and
medications are subject in conversation based upon convictions.
Thus, I implore such ladies to
take to the dance floor, nevertheless the outcome. (Ghastly, I know.)
::: (No, I don’t LOVE advertisements or products much
less writing about it nonetheless I do
love how these ladies conduct themselves in speech, behavior and
reasoning.) They make great dance partners. Please be gentle, even if they make
mistakes, blunders and more mistakes.}
(How’s that for a little poetry?) Shall we? Please tell me that you can see the point of all this chaos in steps,
intricacies and delicacies.
The world just got smaller and the men shall respect the women whether
they like their dance partners or not. (That’s beside the point.) Baile. Become
men and lend an arm to any woman, matron, friend (or stranger-female in need of
balance) nothing more and nothing less. (She’ll decide whether she’s going to
take your arm or not.) Please.
---
--- ---
Yes, I’m stalling. Beautiful.
---
--- ---
Okay.
Duluth, Minnesota as of this week has become
flooded for the first time in recorded
history as far back as most people can think. Fine.
No, no. I’m
not heartless.
I had to sit down as soon as the news traveled over the wire.
The property damage alone is significant.
What. I didn’t understand but now I do. I’ve been
asking myself the same question: ‘What happened?’ I can’t help it. I keep coming up with engineering solutions to all
this chaos; most often I have to sit back down and continue to consider the
possibilities. I’m flabbergasted by the pandemonium; disruption and ruin that
has befallen St. Louis and Carlton County as I listened to others speak.
“Katrina II.”
I’m sitting here astounded just as I was when
the news came over the wire about “Katrina I” when it occurred. All I could do
was hold my breath and sit in silence. What
else could one do? (No, the goal of this writing exercise is not to make
you weep. It’s to get you to think.)
“What happened?”I asked when the 35W Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis.
“What happened?” I asked while Arizona’s
fires rage-on.
“What happened?” I asked when the floods
overtook the Red River Valley of North Dakota.
“What happened?” I asked when the floods
overtook New York City.
“What
happened?” I asked when Costa Rica’s Earthquake took too many lives.
“What happened?” I asked when Boston’s underground
electrical wires flared into fires.
“What happened?” I asked when the Occupy Wall
Street protestors were diagnosed with Tuberculosis.
“What happened?” I asked when Japan’s nuclear
reactor gave way.
“What happened?” I asked when concert goers died
due to stage collapses.
“What happened?” I asked when 50,000 Mexican
civilians died from drug wars.
“What happened?” I asked when Missouri’s
tornadoes took out Joplin.
“What happened?” I asked when building
contractors started cheating our family and their neighbors out of their homes
in Joplin, Missouri.
“What happened?” I asked when Minnesota’s
tornadoes took out North Minneapolis.
“What happened?” I asked when meth became
prevalent culture.
“What happened?” I asked when zebra mussels entered
the Great Lakes.
“What happened?” I asked when Spain’s baking
system collapsed.
“What happened?” I asked when motor boats
were allowed to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. What.
“What happened?” I asked when mining
companies proposed to mine sulfite in Minnesota. What.
‘”What happened?” I asked him, when he
reached me over the wire and said, “No, go.”
We fell silent for a long while as I listened
to him barely breathe. I could imagine us staring at each other as only two serious adults can, about
the grave reality in the gravitas of any situation when it comes to lives,
ruined property and health hazards. “Do you really want to know?” He asked.
“Yes, I really do want to know. Tell me.” I held my breath each and every time
while he spoke slowly and intelligently about everything over the wire “The
water levies…” I understood. Need I say
more? Nope.
---
--- ---
Civilizations build, develop and continue to
thrive even in the face of adversity.
As civilians of a great Republic we don’t
keel over and die.
We think of better solutions and we consider
the possibilities in landscape, design, construct, layout and building
materials. If civilizations begin with reputable and strong materials then
hopefully the rest falls into place.
I see our construction
men and women hard at work on our municipal streets. I see them taking
tremendous time and care with our cities. It’s
because of them that I have a great deal of trust that our city streets
aren’t going to sink into the ground, that our bridges won’t collapse and that
we can and will rebuild even when tornadoes land and hit homeruns right
underneath our noses.
The damage alone is considerable and quite
sad.
I almost wept, but I kept my cool and didn’t
shed a single tear.
Of course I didn’t cry at our friends’ and
family’s destructive situations in Joplin, Missouri, North Dakota and South
Dakota, The Gulf, Billings, Montana, New York City, North, Minneapolis, Costa
Rica, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Arizona, Boston, Mexico, Duluth and Moose
Lake, Italy, New Zealand, Spain.
As adults we pray and we find logical
solutions to our questions.
We’re wishing you a peaceful weekend wherever
you may be here or abroad.
(Oh, the Zoo animals and the seals just
about. I choked back tears at the base of my throat and like hell if I was
going to let it show.) Thankfully no
human casualties in Duluth.
Salud.
Arrivederci. (Goodbye for the present, until we meet again (Italian)).
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. If Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t have to
smile all the time as a Matriarch Monarch, the global role model, female
citizen of the world then neither do the rest of us women unless something of
significance and delight calls our spirits to do so. Otherwise, a plastered
smile on the face all the time is well, unnatural and a bit creepy. Celebrities
get paid to smile, I don’t. I’m a real human. A real woman of the world.
Furthermore, since the role model of the world, Queen Elizabeth II does “tease” those
she knows and loves, I, too, reserve such a privilege without any one so much
as batting an eyelash. Thank you.
*) Teasing:
|
*) Bullying:
Use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone),
typically to force him or her to do what one wants.
*) Harass:
Transitive
verb
1a: Exhaust, Fatigue b (1): to annoy persistently (2): to create an unpleasant or hostile situation for especially
by uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical conduct 2: to worry and
impede by repeated raids <harassed the enemy>
*) Stalker
1. A person who stealthily hunts or pursues an animal or another
person.2. A person who harasses or
persecutes someone with unwanted and obsessive attention.
June 21, 2012
“All ideologies are idiotic, whether
religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word,
which has so unfortunately divided man.” - Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Insanity is knowing that
what you're doing is completely idiotic, but still, somehow, you just can't
stop it.” - Elizabeth
Wurtzel
“Reasonable orders are easy
enough to obey; it is capricious, bureaucratic or plain idiotic demands that
form the habit of discipline.” - Barbara Tuchman
Happy Thursday!
Aloha.
Indeed, prayers are with the living.
(Yes, our closest family and friends in
Duluth, MN and in Moose Lake, MN as well as throughout St. Louis and Carlton
County are doing fine with the exception that their cities flooded and went
under water anywhere from one to three feet.)
The wrath of Mother Nature sure is… (Any
Mayor of Duluth would be off some place filling his diaper.)
Our family and friends have been discussing
the potential danger of sink holes in the Duluth area since the late 1980’s.
The cheap construction is rather apparent and
annoying that most of Duluth, MN’s administrations took short cuts with light
gravel, not properly packed down by using sand-like material which was then
covered up with blacktop and forgotten until...
No, I’m not here to point fingers and to be
mean.
Let’s state the obvious and then find real
solutions to large and cheap problems.
I’m here as a concerned citizen who is in
constant communication to many important, wise and thoughtful citizens
throughout the Northland who have rather pressing concerns, ideas and notions
about how to fix Duluth from engineers’ view points. However, many of these
valid concerns get overlooked year-in-and-year-out by Duluth’s administrations
which places anything (of real value) off until
a flood is on top of them and then it becomes beyond problematic.
We’ve known this was coming for years… (“
‘Never say,’ ‘never.’ ”) We’ve known the possibilities of Duluth flooding for
decades, yes, even though most of the city sits on a hill.
…Because so little money has been spent on various
municipalities that the outcome has been obvious to us for decades in the
hazards of natural disasters. Humans reap what they sew.
I’m deeply saddened by this news of Duluth
and their flooding emergency.
Duluth Minnesota isn’t a pristine city because everything that has been
done seems to have been done on the fly and on the cheap.
It doesn’t take an engineer to see the
obvious signs (although engineers keep pointing them out to us to look at the
cheap construction, layout and architecture of Duluth, MN and) thus we’re painfully aware of this mistress
dressed in finery.
The problem with Duluth, MN is that it’s
about budgets, it’s not about quality and that’s the difference between
leadership that thinks that camping fees to camp-out at an old growth forest
will bring in revenue for a lost and forgotten city rather than real and vital
economical solutions. Yikes! Run! Crazy! Crazy!
Crazy ideas, implemented can become dangerous
and extreme measures taken can and do in fact destroy cities, natural
environments and its civilian populations.
“Stupid people are dangerous.” But idiotic people are deadly.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
Correction: Sandusky case from “10” to “8”
back to “10” children sexually abused. Thank you.
Correction: Scratch that! I don’t know how to
use “emasculate” in a sentence. I’ll think of one or several sentences.
June 20, 2012
Definition of Solstice
Solstice
A stopping or standing still of the sun.
The point in the ecliptic at which the sun is farthest from
the equator, north or south, namely, the first point of the sign Cancer and the
first point of the sign Capricorn, the former being the summer solstice, latter
the winter solstice, in northern latitudes; -- so called because the sun then
apparently stands still in its northward or southward motion.
The time of the sun's passing the solstices, or solstitial
points, namely, about June 21 and December 21.
Happy Wednesday!
Happy Summer Solstice!
Aloha.
I ran out of time. Too many responsibilities
happened today.
Salud.
Cheers!
Gabriela
*) “Last of the Summer Wine”; I can’t believe
the one character died. “See ya,” Yes, I’m a day or so behind programming…) I’ve fallen in love with anything Scottish
and Brit drama for Television. Wow! (I don’t know what to say?)
June 19, 2012
“A very Faustian choice is
upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable
price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and
search for a new environmental ethic.” - E. O. Wilson
“A lot of people at Shearson
ended up making a lot of money because they had stock or stock options. Their
kids were able to go to college, and it changed a lot of people's lives.” - Sanford I. Weill
“A lot of the money in the
stock market is really our national retirement plan, for better or worse.” - Ron Chernow
“A man acquainted with
history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the
world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in
every century.” - David Hume
“A stockbroker urged me to
buy a stock that would triple its value every year. I told him, "At my
age, I don't even buy green bananas." - Claude Pepper
“Anybody who plays the stock
market not as an insider is like a man buying cows in the moonlight.”
- Daniel Drew
Happy Tuesday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? (Let’s not battle in the
middle of a dance floor.) It’s not proper. (Yes, I’m quite distracted once
again today. I know perfectly well why.)
---
--- ---
Let’s get to a lesson in thinking:
(My friends are academically teaching me what
amphetamines are all about. I don’t know why but suddenly it seems everybody is studying to become a chemist?
What gives? Many want to apply neurological and psychological study in research
as well as outcomes to the field of study.) How interesting. I have to keep up
with the subject matter so that we may converse as well as about Artificial
Intelligence and amongst many other subjects.
Amphetamines: (C6H5CH2CH(CH3)NH2)
Questions:
*) What are amphetamines?
*) Are all amphetamines equals in chemical
compounds, structures and elements?
*) Why are amphetamines so addictive?
*) Are all types of amphetamines legal?
*) Ought all types of amphetamines to become
legalized?
*) IF
“illegal” amphetamines became legalized then how would such a product
affect global markets?
*) What is it about amphetamines that could
potentially drive the markets to change drastically while bringing in an
“inconceivable” (ha!) amount of wealth to civilizations?
*) What is it about amphetamines that drives
supply and demand?
*) Would civilians be able to see the effects
of economical operations amongst their municipal streets, schools and public
parks?
*) How would the markets be driven, by the
manufacturing, the distribution and the profit of such addictive drugs?
*) How would the pharmaceutical conglomerates
measure up, compete and trade with a whole new service product?
*) Would the markets need to be split once
more? Of course it would just as it always does with any new market on the
piece of the pie.
I think and believe that maybe just maybe the influx in currency would bring a high standard
of living and education to the middle class customers, consumers and civilians
who’d become served and highly taxed by such a product in service. (Just a
thought. Nothing new.)
I have so many more questions but I ran out
of time for today. Plus I require focus and concentration once more.
Cheers.
Salud.
Goodbye.
Gabriela
Source from Wikipedia:
Amphetamine (USAN, abbreviated from alpha-methylphenethylamine) or amfetamine (INN) is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class that produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.
Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat, Desoxyn, Didrex, ProCentra, and Vyvanse, as well as Benzedrine or Psychedrine in the past.
The drug is also used recreationally and as a performance enhancer. Recreational users of amphetamine have coined numerous street names for amphetamine, such as "speed".
--- ---
---
Notes, thoughts, questions and corrections:
*) Correction: No, I’m not a cannibal, nor do
I believe in cannibalism. I’m a pacifist and a believer of peace, honor and
justice as well as a metaphorical writer. Be
afraid if you will. I came into this world flesh and bone and thus dust to
dust I shall return…
*) No, I’m not a vampire (metaphorically or
literally). Although I’ve felt as though I’ve been bitten and left for dead
every time I’ve ever told a lie. (True sadness).
*) Yes, Transylvania is indeed a place in the
world. It exists. It’s factual. Look it up.
*) No, I’m not a vigilante nor do I believe
in such silliness (leave it for the comic books). I believe in governmental
laws and the judicial justice court systems. Thank you very much.
*) I keep hearing that all economists are “highway robbers”. (I don’t know what to
tell you but some people are truly socio-politico-economists and have a greater
understanding of the banking turning tides than you or I.)
[I was taught that no one really knows much about the fluctuation
of the markets and global enterprise, commerce and trade, only that we, as
humans, have an idea as to how to guide a lending hand towards prosperity. I
mean, the American Government and the People bailed out the American banking
system without question or legal sanctity, justice and justified means. (How embarrassing that must seem to bank
executives while they took in their millions and billions upon dollars in
bonuses as well as into their fields of expertise while The American People went homeless from real estate mortgage
bubbles.) (Boy, it must be more difficult than we’re taught to become justice
leaders without taking in a handout.) (No,
no one really knows about the banking system, it seems. (No, I’m not an
expert on the subject of the banking systems I only know what White Anglo
Saxton Protestant New England business men have taught me about global business
( I question it all the time). I simply have a billion questions about
solutions.)]
*) I think that some of the greatest cultural
and economical mistakes made in the past year have been the following:
A)
Raising the American ceiling tax (since a law
is already in effect stating not to raise the ceiling tax) beyond any
particular decimal in debt.
B)
The Sandusky sexual abuse case: I couldn’t believe that the University
went ahead with their weekend scheduled football game. What type of a leader is that? What type of a point does it send
out to the rest of the country to go ahead with scheduled sports game when an
injustice of a deadly magnitude had been imposed upon in the raping, sexual
assault and molestation of 8 little boys? Yikes. Run! (Amongst my girl friends
we just had to discuss this topic over a politically heated breakfast, why not?)
*) Correction: No, I’m not a cannibal, nor do I believe in cannibalism. I’m a pacifist
and a believer of peace, honor and justice as well as a metaphorical writer. Be
afraid if you will. I came into this world flesh and bone and thus dust to dust
I shall return…
{“If I
were truly angry, I then, would’ve left some places with a metaphorical ear, a
cheek or a finger. Please. Don’t give yourselves any airs about the injustices
of the world. Who says, I’m angry? Not, I.”}
When I write about “removing” body parts I do so in a metaphorical literary
self-defense way nevertheless, I’m no butcher. To be a refined butcher is
to know anatomy and the finesse in how to handle a knife. (If I had to with my own two bare hands then I’d proceed with surgery
with a needle and thread involved (but that would be if the world was
ending and not even then would I volunteer for such a task)…
*) Correction: from “emasculatenate” to “emasculate”. (“Emasculatenate” is not even a word. Ha!)
June 18, 2012
“In matters of truth and
justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues
concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” - Albert Einstein
“Human progress is neither automatic
nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice,
suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of
dedicated individuals.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“All the great things are
simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor,
duty, mercy, hope.” - Winston Churchill
“There is a higher court than
courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other
courts.” -
Mahatma Gandhi
Happy Monday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance along to music on a dance
floor? Okay. (I’m quite distracted today and I know perfectly well, why.) (I beg your pardon. I’m quite human.)
---
--- ---
I’m several hundreds of subjects behind
schedule. I’ve been meaning to cover all sorts of controversial subjects, but I
find myself quite ignorant of facts. (More research.)
---
--- ---
Do you know what to do when an arrow has struck the heart?
No, don’t pull out an arrow, or you would
surely die.
Careful. Break off the arrow at the stem at
the top of your fist on the exterior of your heart; so as not to cause further
injury to yourself. With delicacy, precisely, cut around the shape of the
arrowhead and quite gently remove it not to pierce an artery. Sowing up the
wound ought to be easy with needle and thread. (Metaphorically speaking.)
What a remarkable life! Thirty five years of
pure joy, enthusiasm, happiness, beauty, discipline, love, incredible
friendships, respect, insight, learning, growth, development, sincerity, work,
hardship, physical injury (bodily or otherwise), arrows aimed at the heart, and
betrayal. (Sigh.)
No, I’m not an angry woman.
{I’m quite misunderstood. “Everybody hates
Gabriel.” (Ha! Thanks!) I’m mature, alert, awake, focused and quite alive. I
believe in life above all else. No, I don’t go around taking out the hurt on
others. Why would I? It’s not my
style, upbringing or nature. I know how to conduct myself and I’ll privately
cry with those I love if I want to at the top of my lungs.} Thank you very
much.
I’m slightly wounded and I’ll live. It’s not the type of hurt in which life’s
over.
A type of hurt in which the only thought that
crosses my mind is that of the scene in the film “Braveheart” where the main
character of William Wallace finds out that his friend has deeply betrayed him.
Wallace is beside himself when he discovers
of his friend’s treachery.
Wallace can’t quite believe that his greatest
and closest ally has deceived him in exposing him to the enemy. In this
particular scene, Wallace silently walked backwards and fell down as he began
to tear up. In that scene he gives up on life in exchange for a quick death to
the betrayal that was.
We expect to be betrayed by our enemies but not by our closest
confidants, friends and allies. That’s the type of hurt that a human begs
for a quick death or survives the injustice and then the animal comes back
stronger than before. Be prepared not
only to meet your fate but also your creator (a little poetry for you).
I’m a slightly wounded animal from a pierced
arrow through the heart and like hell
if I’m going to roll over, show it and have it come across my face even if it
hurts like hell. I won’t betray you or me; and, I most certainly will mature up
and become an adult. Nope. I’m too proper for all that jazz. Why would I go out of my way to be rude to
others, please!
I can think and behave like a child at any
one time, even in the worst of my misbehaving moments I can still give
precedence to my adult intellect.
Nevertheless, a wounded animal doesn’t bite,
rather they whine, bark, and communicate pain and hurt even if it’s dismissed
completely by the one who drove the arrow deeper into the heart nearing the
entrance of a soul.
Furthermore, remember that a hurt dog becomes
aggressive to assert their high social status and that means some serious
social order amongst the animal kingdom. Respect the pact leader or perish.
Anger.
One doesn’t really know anger unless one
gives up ones’ powers in the exchange to have another believe that their
perceived notions in power are stronger and far more righteous than what is
owed to them. I’ve given up my life-given powers so that others may believe
that they are the Alphas of a pack. (Delusions are perceived quite openly and
readily amongst those who lie to themselves.)
No, I’m not holding my strong heart with my
left hand upon it as of right now instead I’m standing steady and observant.
When people have said, “ ‘you hurt most the
ones you love.’ ” The saying / song meant business. I’ve often wondered why human conditioning is so brutal, cruel and
unjust. Fairness. Who cares about
fairness when there’s justice amongst the Universes?
If I were truly angry, I then, would’ve left
some places with a metaphorical ear, a cheek or a finger. Please. Don’t give
yourselves any airs about the injustices of the world. Who says, I’m angry?
Not, I.
To add salt to an injury is to be mindless
and thoughtless. Need I say more?
Why do we hate each other so much in America?
Sincerely,
Goodbye.
Salud.
Gabriela
Notes:
---
--- ---
The below sentence is awful and an
example as to how not to write in the English Language because it’s an
embarrassment to the language itself.
*) The
most difficult communication is with humans who have gone through emasculate
measures either men or women. Yes, a woman can go through emasculate extremes
from her femininity.
The above sentence is awful and an
example as to how not to write in the English Language because it’s an
embarrassment to the language itself.
---
--- ---
*) I’m re-teaching myself how to walk again.
I’m pulling all the stops upon my memory as
far back as I can recall when being taught how to walk on the balls of my feet
instead of the heels. (I find that my ankles, knees and hips hurt greatly when
I stomp on or so much as lightly walk upon my heels, thus I must adapt to
change). (Downhill walking seems the worst as of right now.) (It’s like learning how to walk on high heels
without the shoes while the calves are on fire.) (Sigh.)
*) We clocked in at 20 walking miles as of
last week. Yippee! I can feel my strength returning to my muscles after
surgery.
*) I can’t stand stretching before walking or
any other type of exercise.
My muscles just don’t seem to like
pre-stretching before walking.
When I stretch I feel as though my muscles
are being torn from their bone (not literally) but close and my body becomes
extremely fatigued and sluggish. I get annoyed, contrary and lazy. I’ll walk
but it’ll be ever so slowly.
I find that if I take in a warm up walk
without stretching then my body heat can really carry me for miles at top
speeds. Otherwise, a “stretching session” leaves my muscles feeling like string
cheese. (I figure that if stretching out humans
with horses was a type of torture and death then why do that to my muscles
if they don’t like it. The human body will let one know what to do and what not
to do. The body seems to know best.)
*) No, I don’t wish to be a world class
athlete.
I applaud all those magnificent and amazing
people, who take the time to condition, train and develop an athlete’s mind
set, body and discipline.
I’m so proud of all of the athletes of the
2012 Olympic Games. You did it! You made it! You qualified without foul play,
drugs or menace. May honor, justice and hard work persevere amongst our
incredible world class athletes. Hip! Hip! Hooray to those who inspire the
masses to become healthy in their everyday lives.
{If when
I was much younger and if, had I been
more dedicated to any one sport I’d like to think that I might have developed
my natural instincts, talents and abilities.} (But I’ll not know for certain
will I?) If I had wanted to become a world class athlete then I would’ve done
so in my younger years. “ ‘Never’, say ‘never’ ”. It’s improper to think like Gods. Life happened and I don’t have
too many regrets, although… just intellectually teasing. I’ve been reading
articles about athletes who do embark in world class sports at the age of
sixty. How remarkable is that? The
Olympics are such joyous times.
*) “Odious.” Is indeed my “new” favorite
word. Although, it’s not “new-new” per say. I was trained in Latin and Greek at
the age of 12. I can get myself around. Thank you.
*) The banking situation in the European
Union…
June 15, 2012
“Big Chief shit in the blanket.” - Finn Elder
“Stupid annoying humans! All Hulk wanted was
a place to be alone --” - The Incredible
Hulk
Happy Friday! (Indeed.)
Happy Parents’ Day!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? (Yes, there’s a dance floor
and music so you won’t feel…) I’m sitting this one out because I don’t know the
dance steps. (Thank you, but no thank you.)
---
--- ---
Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
(Prayers are with the living. Please take a
few deep adult breaths and relax. Where
there’s shadow there’s also light.)
Okay, I’ll write about the-oh-so controversial subject of
Satanist-animal-sacrifices taking place all over the United States of America.
(I don’t know what to tell you.)
No, I’m neither any type of witch nor shaman.
I’m a modern human citizen who pays taxes.
---
--- ---
It’s come to my attention through
conversations with other adults and through passing that children are being
forced to watch Satanist-animal-sacrifices; for example; the throat cutting of
cats. (Gross. I’m not completely judging
it’s just that-that, form of death seems like an insignificant death.)
(Are those of the animal kingdom not our
equals?) (Are our children not free from harm?)
Be careful as to whom you meet, acquaint and
pay alliance to. The world is not all that dangerous but it most certainly is
“queer” to say the least (the former definition of the word “queer”).
“Peace be with you.”
“And also with you.”
I hear that these Satanic-animal-sacrifices
are not a new-practice and neither is the dancing of women in the nude while
making Wiccan prayers to their Pagan Gods. (A little weird, no? I’m not completely judging, however,
must one undress buck-naked to pray?) (I’m too much of an Indian-Puritan.) I
don’t care to get naked in front of any one in prayer or not (if I can help
it). (Thank you, but no thank you.)
---
--- ---
I’ve been informed that many of these satanic
worships are done by those of Masonic stonemason origins. (I don’t believe it!
I can’t see it.)
Maybe, as an English as a Second Language,
first generation immigrant I have this notion in concept that our Masonic
brothers and sisters are those whom helped build stone-by-stone and brick-by-brick
this country, this Washington D.C. and this land of the Americas. Why would
they want to destroy that which their ancestors built?
Please, give The People hope, not despair.
---
--- ---
No, I’ve neither killed any cats, nor dogs or
any other animals in Satanic-animal sacrifices.
One-of my-fourteen lies is that I once told a Wiccan-Goth that I had killed
my next door neighbor’s cat. HA! HA! HA! (IT NEVER HAPPENED!) Ha! What more can I say?
I got nervous of her witch-killing speeches,
theological ideologies and deadly philosophies. Thus, I covered my basis by
letting her know that I was capable of the incomprehensible and so much as
skinning an animal if I had to for food and in Indian prayer. (If you’ve ever
filleted a fish then you know how to handle an animal for food and prayer.)
I, too, have killed animals in a hunt, but
not in a haunt. Major differences.
---
--- ---
I’m being informed by The People that many of
these Satanic-animal sacrifices and rituals happen in the St. Paul area of Minnesota.
(I don’t know what to say to this?) (Whether this be folk-lore, speculation,
urban myth, fact or truth.)
I don’t like St. Paul by night because it has
the eeriness of death. You can’t sell it to me like some dumb tourist. I’ve
lived in too many metropolitan cities.
I’d rather take my chances in Minneapolis any
time of the night or day. Minneapolis has a city layout in which one can always be in contact to civilization.
No, I’m not in search of Witches, Satanists or
Shamans. Thank you, but no thank you. I have Elders.
---
--- ---
I’ll need to do more research.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
*)
When I write that I “tease”, I “intellectually tease” nothing more and nothing
less.
No, I’m not a “Geisha”, nor some “wet-dream”
or “Mrs. Robinson” over here. One shall
respect the constitutional-institutional concept of marriage for those who so
choose to embark upon such a journey with their communities. (See how I did
that? A little poetry for you.) I think that the thinkers, readers and citizens
of the Middle East can handle my commentary, insight as a woman and
intellectual view points. I mean these are brothers who advanced mathematics by
a thousand fold. Ha! Cheers!
*) “Zombie Apocalypse.” No, that’s just
wrong. That’s a Western marketing tool. Think scientifically. “The Scientific
Method” of logical thinking, questioning and reasoning.
If you don’t know then “get hip to it”. It’s
the magnificent Maya New Year! In the continuation of the next 5, 125 years (or
so). Beginning December 21st, 2012. Aloha! Aloha! Yes, the Maya
calendar continues to date time passage well into the four-thousands and the
seven-thousands. (Look it up.)
*) No, no I don’t want to be a “cosmic travel
writer”.
I desire to become a cosmic travelling human
observing the Universes and recording events of a time and era in which
measures unfold and happen no matter how difficult the subject matter may
become to address in these times in which we live (nothing more and nothing
less). (That’s what I learned from Star
Trek. We’re meaning to take in a
convention one of these days / years.)
No, I don’t dress in costume (no matter what, if I can help it), not
even during Halloween.
{I’m
mortal. I was taught that artists don’t destroy instead they create meaningful
lives, understanding of situations and occurrences in the times in which we
live even if we criticize and make corrections: nothing more and nothing less.}
Ha!)
*) As meteorologists, please inform the public
about sun spots and flare activity as one would news worthy weather to all
regions. The atmosphere has changed. Humans must be informed of cosmic weather,
period. We’re entering a new dawn of an age.
*) Syria. (Universal Prayers are with the
living.)
*) Thinking
about thinking and how to write about it. Memory covers the entire region
of the brain. Wonderful! I didn’t re-know that until recently. (When I was 11 I
began a study of the brain, its functions, intricacies and components. Now that
I’ve “completed” my youth studies upon the subject of Mesopotamia, my studies
of the brain have also changed as I enter the next 20 adult years embarking
upon the study of the Egyptians.)
*) Spain. Aloha. (Prayers are with the
living, for our former extended foreign exchange students, their families and
their communities.)
*) I’ve been very lucky to have met, love and
know Iranian-Muslims, Jews, and controversial Catholic punks. Some of my
closest friends pray to these religious denominations. We’re able to intellectually
debate any subject in question and that’s what makes us respect each other in
tremendous of ways. Isn’t that the point to intellectual discourse?
*) I’ve been taught that we’re connected by
six degrees of separation. I trust and don’t judge the people that I love and
those that we have in common in love.
*) I don’t mind meeting other filmmakers, writers and photographers. I simply tend to hang out with economists,
historians, psychologists, commerce intellectuals and professional artists,
scientists and lawyers. It just happened that way.
*) Hold the press.
I’m not only influenced by a certain
demographic or groups of individuals.
I like to hear what retirees, teachers,
firefighters, cops, security, state patrol, guards, electricians, tree cutters,
riggers, seamstresses, bakers, entrepreneurs (of any type), “stay at home
mommies”, dancers, thespians, civil workers, campaigners, community organizers,
Janitorial staff, Iron workers, architects, contractors, nurses, bourgeois,
anarchists, aristocrats, democrats, socialists,
nouveau riche, corporate panhandlers, marketers, major advertisers, public
relations, physical trainers, athletes, real estate personnel, educational
administrators and non educational administrators, designers, techs, aviators,
navigators and financiers, capitalists, biologists, chemists (which some of my
friends are now going back to school for, hey?), pharmacists, horticulturalists, zoologists, truffle hunters, hunters,
social workers, scientific writers, ocean biologists, underwater photographers,
farmers, medical techs, vets, investors, inventors, medical and non-medical
doctors, professors, insurance personnel, window washers and installers,
skyscraper cleaners, garbage collectors, garage installers, waiters, bar tenders,
directors, chefs, manufacturers, executive directors and non-directors,
producers and non-producers, make-up artists, models, circus personnel, concert
personnel, venue producers, venue promoters, humanitarian aid relief workers,
heads of states, diplomats, mathematicians, socialites, publishers, editors,
lunch ladies (in the public school systems), lobbyists, politicians, sailors,
theologians, travel agents, puzzle writers, reporters, engineers, carpenters,
neurologists, general practitioners, all sorts of medical and any one working
or not for a living as well as mentioned or not for good reason as citizens of
the world. (There are more professionals but I can’t think of them specifically
as of right now.) Thanks for your patience.
People are people nothing more and nothing
less.
People work so hard to carve out their
living. I rejoice in their accomplishments. What
more can I say?
*) Where to look while walking down the
street; (cast down my gaze) as an Indiana or as a female with a culturally
Caucasian upbringing; where to look? (The Ballet dancers have taught me to
choose a point in space directly ahead of me and pin point that as my source of
reference to return to each and every time). Thank you.
*) “Bilderberg”.
Yes, I’ve known exactly what that is for over twenty years (another blog for
another day).
June 14, 2012
“A great city is not to be confounded
with a populous one.” - Aristotle
“Houses make a town, but citizens make
a city.” - Rousseau
“Every city is in a natural state of war
with every other.” - Plato
“There are so many things I love about
Jane Jacobs: She hated one-way
streets, and loved local beer.” -
Judy Wicks of the white dog café
“If car ownership is mandatory, [the
place is] not urban.” - Donald
Baxter
“In a quality city, a person should be
able to live their entire life without a car, and not feel deprived.” - Paul Bedford
“Cars are happiest when there are no
other cars around. People are happiest when there are other people around.”
- Dan Burden
Happy Thursday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? How about a spicy Rumba?
{(Can you handle that or are you just going
to stand there and be odious at the fact that you want to dance but you just
don’t know how to?) We won’t make fun of you for not knowing the dance steps.
Not even a little bit. We know passionate life and at the core center of that
lays true vibrating compassion and kindness in frequency, like a caramelized
onion.} You have to know how to…
---
--- ---
Look: About contracting an urban or rural artist
and / or a designer to do urban planning is quite wonderful. Companies stick to
urban planners because they can trust that these independent contractors are
indeed professionals, articulate in their work and well thought out as well as
smart. I commend that!
Now: What I don’t commend is this: The duplicity
of urban design when it doesn’t work well with the progressive populous such as
narrow and invisibly marked streets for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists
or brick-work for elder populous who tote along groceries on wheeled carry-on
bags weekly for years.
Point: I thought that urban planning was one area
of art, science and mathematics in which cities would differentiate who they
were and become practical, aesthetically pleasing and easily accessible to all.
Questions: Is Minneapolis a big pond with large fish or
a large pond with little fish?
Wait, is Minneapolis a small pond with large
fish or a little pond with big fish? Which is it?
I can’t tell by the urban layout. I don’t
mean anything by it, exactly.
Thoughts: I’d like to think that even when cities
(urban or otherwise) contract an artist, urban developer and / or an urban
planner that the outcome would become something uniquely its own to local
environments in aesthetic value, culturally cherished ideologies and held as
sacred to the authenticity of the thought provoking, functional and interactive
architectural municipal art in lay out, period.
I think you understood that.
Goodbye.
Salud.
Gabriela
P.S. I have more responsibilities. I don’t have
time to dance, just now.
Side Notes: Once, it’s written out on ink,
it’s there for the whole world to misinterpret!
*) Correction: Our city region borders one
mile from Golden Valley. Hello, neighbors! We’ve decided that we’d like to make
Hennepin County our home. We’re about to head out, sooner than later.
*) I stay away from “hanging out” with other
filmmakers, writers and photographers. What
good will it do? Unless they can speak to some serious shop! I like to talk
shop especially when it comes to all three genres of art in design, form, style
and development.
I don’t mind meeting other filmmakers, writers and photographers. I simply tend
to hang out with economists, historians, psychologists, commerce intellectuals
and professional artists, scientists and lawyers. It just happened that way.
*) When
in Rome do as the Romans. Move over. It’s a sign of respect not weakness.
This is not Asia. Learn to walk properly amongst the streets of the United
States of America. Otherwise, you’re just considered a “hick” even if you’re of
Asian origins. (I could write about the word “hick” all day long. It’s
derogatory but the thing is that I love those “hicks” that I’ve made
friendships with whether racism is a part of life of not.)
*) No, I don’t hate Duluth but I do think
that as a Northern City on the Western Hemisphere; that a Native American,
Latino and African American are still apt to get lynched or mobbed. That’s my
personal take on that and we can discuss it further some other time. Some
sentiments change little over time like a good lynching.
*) Street art: We got to see the artist
“H-O-T-T-E-A” create one of his installation pieces while walking yesterday!
How wonderful to see local artists doing their thing in the neighborhood. Thank
you.
*) Street art: A few years back I fell in
love with the Uptown “tag” and “street graffiti” stickers. I wish I could
collect them all like stamps. To the best of my abilities I take pictures
dripping in toffee candy and delight. Thank you.
*) Street art: The shoes hanging over the
electrical wires are so refreshing! I haven’t had the courage to do that type
of art. I must be somewhat of a cowardly artist however I just know that it’s
not for me with the risks involved. I don’t like to run and the notion of running
from the cops makes me feel lazy. Nope, not for me but I enjoy the work other
artists have the courage to contribute, make and display upon our streets.
Thank you.
June 13, 2012
“A superfluity of wealth, and
a train of domestic slaves, naturally banish a sense of general liberty, and
nourish the seeds of that kind of independence that usually terminates in
aristocracy.” - Mercy Otis Warren
“All the principal people in
the town are concerned in the slave trade, and their chief wealth consists in
the number of slaves they possess; therefore there is little chance of the
trade being, for many years, totally abolished.” - George Grey
“Ambition makes more trusty
slaves than need.” - Ben
Johnson
“Animals, whom we have made
our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.” - Charles Darwin
“Any unarmed people are
slaves, or are subject to slavery at any given moment.” - Huey Newton
Happy Wednesday!
Aloha.
Boo!
Shall we dance? (We’ll dance another time
when there’s music playing and a dance floor. Otherwise, people look… (I’m
going to sit this one out and breathe on a balcony by myself. I beg your pardon.) I’m once again quite
distracted today… And I know exactly why.
---
--- ---
After taking-in eight walking miles in two
short days, we stopped into a local Wedge sub shop that we like, it’s clean and
professional. Eric ordered his sandwich and I waited for the service personnel
to begin making it. I looked around to choose what I wanted from a menu.
A door opened behind me and to my right as I
stood still on one foot.
An Asian female child of ten years of age in
a soccer uniform loudly whined and got dangerously too close behind me for
comfort and cried. I could feel her body heat. I didn’t like it one bit.
I didn’t flinch, I didn’t look back and I
most certainly didn’t budge an inch. I could see in front of me in line the
worried looks on Caucasian men’s faces standing waiting for their food and
getting ready to pay as they stole looks back at the crying child. ‘Ignore it’,
I thought, and they all looked back at what they were doing.
The child continued to cry as I leaned on one
foot and stretched-out my ankle.
The less attention we paid to the child the
less the child whined and her cries subsided and came to a complete stop
shortly after entering the shop.
A Caucasian man moved forward into my
periphery view on my left and asked two Asian children, “What do you want to
order?” in a fatherly way. ‘Ah,’ I thought, ‘this must be the clueless parental
unit who wants to be noticed but hasn’t done any of the parenting necessary for
village life’.
Then the whiny child looked over her options
as her father pointed at the glass
with fluffy bread exposed on the other side; the whiny child stood alongside a
most quiet younger and shorter female sibling (who looked identical to the
eldest) and began the utmost peculiar behavior.
She began… she began to twirl like a princess from some fairy tale
book. She took up far more room than she deserved in the world.
On her second twirl her hair, sharply,
brushed up against my left arm and I got completely turned off by my
surroundings, her hair and her family. Not only was the child clueless of her
surroundings but she was also in dire need of deep appreciation and attention.
I completely ignored her physical miscommunication. She was clueless and self
centered. A most dangerous child. I shunned her for her stupidity and turned my
back. There was nothing special about her except for one of her seven deadliest
of sins: pride, goes before the fall.
I continued to look over the menu and waited
patiently for the service personnel to directly communicate with me about my
sandwich.
When the female service personnel was done
with Eric’s sandwich; she then pleasantly turned to me, we looked at one
another directly in the eye and greeted each other in Spanish. I ordered in
Spanish and we smiled at one another. She asked me what type of cheese I wanted
and I consulted Eric on what type of cheese would go best with my sandwich.
I told her the type of cheese.
The whiny child twirled again and her hair
whipped past my arm for the second time and I thought, ‘That’s it!’ I moved in
a sharp manner to the other side of Eric without hesitation. I meant business.
I wasn’t going to get whipped in the arm by that child and her twirling hair
for a third time.
It’s quite improper to touch others without
permission and that was a lesson on etiquette that she has yet to learn and
until then she’ll most, likely have many difficult lessons to learn.
If we truly lived in a village setting, then
I would’ve most likely turned to the child and said in a stern loving female
voice, “Child, you’re taking up too much room and for pity sake stop twirling
as though you have no concept of your ancestors.” (I held my tongue.) It wasn’t
necessary for me to say anything. I made myself quite perfectly clear through
my body language.
As we continued to walk the rest of our way
home I thought about how that child had no concept of what other children live
through on a daily basis in other parts of the globe or perhaps where she had
come from before being adopted into cultural genocide.
I thought about what a shame it was for her
to be so spoiled and clueless about the fact that Cambodian children do work to
starvation and death in mines. I thought about how clueless she was that other
children in Syria were getting blown up body part by body part. Children in
Sudan living in caves while their families survive famine. I thought about the
beautiful and amazing children of Haiti, Ethiopia and India.
I’m beside myself that American children are
so oblivious of their surroundings when there’s truly so much going on in the
world today.
I think that it’s great that children are kept from danger
however I don’t think that it’s okay that American children are dense about
their immediate worlds and apparently it shows through their misbehavior in
etiquette that they are indeed spoiled and rotten.
Sigh.
This is the second time while out in public in
one short month that I’ve encountered two female children of ethnicity (African
American and Asian American) who’ve happened to be in the parental-charge of
Caucasian guardians and whom seem to have little control of the outbursts and
disregard for general village life while their children run the show and speak down to the parents or disregard village
civilities.
It made me think of writing a letter to a
friend of admissions at an Ivy League school and letting them know some of the
type of demographics coming-up in some of the youngest generations of adoptees,
foster children and cross cultural families.
The whole world’s watching to see how you
will treat others and act according to village life.
You can think and say anything you want.
Absolutely. But not everyone will react in a way in which they’re going to meet
your deepest needs.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
*) No, I’m not a child nor idiotic. I think
like an adult mature female, however I do like to think in terms of a child’s
curiosity and viewpoint. (It’s the easiest way to get back to basics and start
again.)
*) No, I don’t enter film contests (if I can
help it) since one of my business mentors told me not to in my early twenties.
He told me to trust him and that it would be for my own good. Thank you.
I’ve entered a total of four film
opportunities and it wasn’t until my late twenties when I cried and threw DVD’s
at the floor (2007) (I’d never done that
in my entire life nor since, but it sure felt damn good. I should’ve done it
sooner in childhood. I didn’t dare to rebel as a child. We were fighting a
serious war on poverty as children of the jungle barrios.) (In private with
a close friend; I misbehaved. Ha!)
I understood the silliness of it all because a close friend pointed out the
obvious and it made me mad to think of it;
“
‘Your films are professional and that’s why you won’t get chosen. So live with
it. The better you are at your craft the more people want to take you down. Get
over it.’ ” (I cried and I was mad as the dickens. I got over it.)
I got over all of it and I don’t enter film
contests, film festivals (only for circulation) or anything that takes way more time and effort any more than
it ought to require beyond filmmaking. I
got over my childish needs (at the ripe age of 28) to have the films get
noticed, recognized and notoriety for the sake of it. Live and learn.
Moving on.
I’m happy with what I’m building over here.
Plus, I’m horrible at public speaking, anyway. Cheers! Next.
*) The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.
*) When another mentions that they’ve come
across an "inheritance" in conversation, all I can say is,
“Congratulations!” to them. It’s not polite
to speak of the dead amongst strangers.
June 12, 2012
“Despite what they tell you,
there are simply no moral absolutes in a complex world.” - Berkeley Breathed
“If we don't believe in moral
absolutes and then we get into a cultural-political debate, how are we going to
win?” - Randall Terry
“There is no pleasing New
Englanders, my dear, their soil is all rocks and their hearts are bloodless
absolutes.”
- John Updike
“Therefore it does not help
to sneer at the imperfection of today's reality or to preach absolutes as a
daily agenda.” - Gustav Heinemann
Happy Tuesday!
Aloha.
Shall we? What?
“ ‘How about we “cruz” the neighborhood on
any type of skateboard?’ ” (I can’t think of any particular genre of dance, per
say so why don’t we just “hang out” and “chillax”, take in the sites and drink
a little water?) Ha! (I’m distracted today by... I know exactly what.)
---
--- ---
Thoughts, Notes and Questions:
*) Of course, we’re thinking of our entrusted
and beloved friends in Stockholm, Sweden. These are sailors that I have indeed
entrusted them with my life upon vessels and through rough waters in The
Atlantic Ocean because they are some of the best sailors and navigators on the
globe. Thank you. I’ve shared meals, lived amongst and love the Swedes, their
in-laws the Danish, their friends and family on an intimate and profound level.
You changed me for the better at the age of fourteen.
*) Thank you for my stupendous hair cut here
at The Wedge neighborhood. I’ll miss that in ways that I can’t explain it to
you. Here! Here! To the Rudy Perpich Uptown Minneapolis hair dresser and
artist, class of 2004. What a foxy lady!
*) What European Americans! How classy to
live with your parents throughout your twenties. My European brothers and
sisters have all lived at home until they’ve married, finished their studies or
turned about 30. Here! Here! To restructuring and reconstructing American
familial lifestyles!
*) We started a swear jar this winter: I don’t
care if other people swear or not. I’m not a Nazi. I can’t nor will I patrol
whether people use profanity or not. I don’t swear in public (at all) if I can help it (in person) but
if I do then I mean business. It’s seldom that I’ll let a verbal swear word
escape my lips (especially in front of children, simply because it’s not
classy). Although my closest friends swear with me and I with them. My Father
will swear in conversation and it doesn’t mean anything yet it means
everything. If he swears then he’s making a vital point.
*) I’ve never wanted to live in Singapore
where the citizens get flagged / whipped for chewing gun. Thank you, but no
thank you. I’ll stick to my swear jar. Ha!
*) Our swear jar goes towards tips. That’s how we roll...
*) On tipping in general. Please don’t ask
patrons if the tip they’re giving you is
okay with them. Of course it is! People give what they want because it’s
important to circulate currency and people are quite grateful for the great
services that they receive in excellence in manner, product and information as
well as conduct.
*) Customer service is not overrated. It
ought to be brought back into the American business system. I hear that
customer service is no longer profitable, but I’m here to tell you, that could
be an entire branch of communications that could be re-structured, re-built and
strengthened by an entire new work force in populous. If there’s no customer
service intact then there’ll be no corporations. Cheers!
*) If you’re providing a service then
customers may speak to you and ask questions of any type, you may or may not
answer them about personal questions. Nevertheless, the interaction means just
as it is nothing more and nothing less: A customer to a service provider and a
service provider to a customer interaction.
*) We found hostess sweet products before
they expire and the corporation goes out of business. Just because we’re
working on no sugar or alcohol consumption, as a hostess (no pun intended) I
like to serve our guests the things they like to indulge in. Cheers! Even if it
means Cuban cigars from time to time.
*) What will it take for Nations to become
self-sufficient as they develop and eventually will thrive towards a more
civilized world?
(Example: (Here comes the simplistic
question:) Why haven’t global Nations developed structures to electrical and
irrigational systems in reaching all of The People’s of the Earth?
Who are we kidding? I mean, okay. Let’s get
real basic and that’s alright. Let’s begin climbing at the base of a strong
tree trunk. Otherwise, it’s futile, the branches might break off. I’d rather
swing from vine-branches.
How should I translate this for you?
I’m not pointing any fingers. I mean, really.
We’re all adults, now.
Nevertheless, I thought that by now
corporations and their global contributions were not to liquidate other
companies rather to distribute wealth from their profits. For example: I don’t
mean to be too idealistic, however. Weren’t we going to get the world on equal
footing by now? I mean wasn’t Africa going to become self-sustaining and
provide the necessary means to its people to become educated, healthy and ready
to trade with the rest of the globe?
I must think like a kid: I must: If a corporation liquidates another vital company
and / or corporation then why doesn’t 50%-100% of that destructive profit go
towards teaching 5th world Nations self sufficiency in food
production, growth and distribution as well as importing, exporting and commerce.
I raise a moment of silence to commonwealth.
*) (I could write for days on any one
particular subject matter, not because
I’m great at it but because I have so many questions:)
(American Freedoms, especially those of
sexual orientation in nature and in preference; are life-given rights under
state laws of the United States of America on the Northern Continent of the
Western Hemisphere (not a biggie, for
those of you who may not know it).
Why not intellectually ponder the subject matter of sexual orientation
as civilians of the Middle East and America? What do The Middle Eastern People think
about sexuality in preference? Why not put it to a referendum (ballot question)
on the next voting-ticket in the 2012 fall elections? Our government is putting
it to individual state vote to decide the rights of those with same-sex
partnerships. (What a shame to leave the
rights of civilians in the hands of a vote.)
Now, that would be a testimonial of true and just democracy if the
Middle East granted those life-given rights to their civilians and not the
United States of America. I’d be floored by that type of Middle
Eastern progressiveness.) I’m only intellectually teasing a little bit.
(Please, come along on this adult intellectual skateboard ride. Yes, you may
get road-rash and you’ll live.)
In other words: What does any religion have to do with the
rights of civilians and their sexual preferences?
Side Note: (Dear
Americans, particularly those of same-sex orientation; not all of the civilians
of the world are free from religious tyranny. Please give thanks to the
progressiveness of The United States of America and its Civil Human Rights
Movement. Thank you. (I don’t get
tired of saying, “Thank you” and Please”.)
Please ponder the possibilities in which our
brothers and sisters of the same-sexual orientation aren’t “out of the woods yet on a grand global scale.
I can only urge you to be politically
civilized for the rights of all global civilians, period.
Otherwise, cultural branches of civilians
will perish to exist.
Individuals that we may someday encounter and have them change our entire
worlds for greater good in purpose because our Middle Eastern brothers and
sisters don’t culturally and theologically consider the world as Americans do.)
Oh, you didn’t like that example of American Civil Rights and Liberties: Well,
from one adult to another, you don’t have to and that’s the magnificence in the
gloriousness of a humanitarian vote in that Americans don’t chop our neighbors
at the knees (even if some of our states believe in vaginal probing to our
female populous post rape. How inhumane is that? We still have much policy to
change, reform and revert back on the side of The People’s health and decency.
We must tilt the scale for the rights and health of Humans not profit.) No,
Sir! We don’t carelessly treat our women like pieces of mierda. We live and let
live with the liberty of sexual preferences, care and respect.
To Ponder:
1) Professional and domestic human rights in the
female gender roles of the women of America and Afghanistan (men and women are
not alike, yet equals) (Transgendered, transsexual and otherwise in dress and
appearances or not). (Done.)
2) The equal female rights for the women of
America and Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East (Done.)
3) The educational rights of all the females
and males of America and Afghanistan: in
other words a feminist structure in thinking about equal rights, not
necessarily in communication (“boys will be boys and girls will be girls”);
(I was academically taught that the equal rights of both genders (male and
female) are the liberties in life-given rights in the happiness to pursue free
education (analytical skills in critical thinking), freedom of liberty to think
and act according to situation as critical thinking adults, contribute and
conduct accordingly to one’s perspective of an environment, as well as the
right to choose, that’s feminism at its
finest! (And, no, I won’t show (not
even) a little leg with that, it would be imprudent to do so plus I’m not a
chicken, Ha!) (Broma. Joke. Chiste. Now, that’s funny to me! (Done.)
Sincerely,
Gabriela
June 11, 2012
“I
speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the
president of the university.” - Albert
Einstein
“Above
all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own
lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around
him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect
he ceases to love.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“As
you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life,
but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man
does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a
family he comes from, he is trash.” -
Harper Lee
“Friendship
is selfless love, care, respect, and honor not a profitable opportunity.” - Santosh Kalwar
Happy Monday!
Aloha.
Photo-shoot.
Goodbye.
Salud!
Gabriela
P.S. Correction: (from “deceases” to be
become dead to “diseases” illness).
Correction: (from “latter” after to “ladder”
a stepping tool).
June 10, 2012
“They were new money, without
a doubt: so new it shrieked. Their clothes looked as if they'd covered
themselves in glue, then rolled around in hundred-dollar bills.” - Margaret Atwood
“A respectable appearance is
sufficient to make people more interested in your soul” - Karl Lagerfeld
“I
am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my
superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own
demerit.” - Theodore Roosevelt
Happy Sunday!
Aloha.
Let’s not divide
and conquer (it’s not humane, it’s destructive) let’s become sincere and
respectful.
If you don’t understand then let me make it
perfectly clear for you; I’m quite saddened to leave Uptown, Minneapolis,
Minnesota and the Wedge neighborhood.
The Wedge neighborhood is a neighborhood
unique like no other.
I fell in love with the area and the neighborhood
at the young age of fifteen with its streets full of dirty and respectful
gutter punks peacefully sitting on sidewalks, professional artists, pierced and
tattooed brothers and sisters peacefully co-existing amongst the hard working
yuppies and relaxed non-classist wealthy. (That must’ve been in the days before
cocaine crazed and rabid Wedge neighborhood and Downtown Minneapolis became
apparent.)
I remember a Wedge neighborhood where people
stood up for each other, watched out for each other and were peaceful no matter
what the class divides might’ve been. People were humane nothing more and
nothing less.
I remember a progressive Wedge neighborhood
where people didn’t go around fulfilling their egotistical needs to be seen and noticed by all without
noticing the splendor and wonder of the natural world just a little bit. (How
boring. I’m yawning over here.)
A neighborhood where behaving in
self-delusional and self-important righteous ways is not only considered bad
manners but it also meant low-self esteem and demented bullying arrogance
misplaced amongst society; because some believe in something as shallow as believing that money speaks to their
importance as humans. Silly rabbits!
Money doesn’t say anything about cruel bullying
humans other than a human is an “odious” (Ha! It’s my new favorite word) with
money and ungrateful for what they have. How
dare you? Become snobbish ingrates when others have nothing to eat around
the globe yet they can smile at the end of each day with the very wisdom that
they’ve made it yet another day. People with less than what our Wedge neighbors
have are far more kind, generous and happier than the humans in this part of
the world seem to be.
Now days it’s difficult to frequent
restaurants on Hennepin and Lyndale Avenue without having to deal with the
shallow, irritating and righteousness of classism and misplaced wayward
elitism. (You try swallowing your food to that.)
The poser elite (nouveau riche) of the Wedge neighborhood have become a
shallow reflection of their classist superiority through their portrayal of
snobbish attitudes, bad breaths and fart smells. The problem with the supposedly elite in this neighborhood is
that “they believe that their shit doesn’t stink” but it’s easy to smell them a
mile away especially when they fart at outdoor eating patios.
I’m saddened to leave the Wedge neighborhood
because I really believed that this was the Mecca of Minnesota arts. I thought
that artists came here to pay tribute to the arts otherwise I wouldn’t have
come here in 1994 and again as an adult in 2004 even against my elders wish for
me to return to Minneapolis and make a life.
I thought, this neighborhood, of all the
neighborhoods in Minnesota linked hands with currency and the arts.
(That appears to be a falsehood.)
Not only did I come to find out that the arts
in Minneapolis are all about favoritism and how far up the ladder an artist can
sleep their way to the top amongst those dishing out the currency (“casting
couches”). Also, I came to find out that it’s all about how many people an
artist rubs elbows with for the sake of kissing some quasi royal (real estate)
behind.
Artists are meant to be in studios hard at
work not getting drunk and idiotic with the quasi elite who are bored with
their existences.
Furthermore, very bad art is supported over
professional art, here in these parts only because those with currency have
very little idea of what art truly is.
I’ve come to find out that nouveau riche in this area aren’t very educated nor
questioning of their existences here on
earth thus they live-out mediocre lives
of quiet desperation, shallow entertainment and hard drugs which separates
them from themselves and their souls.
(Don’t
give me that look. I’ve come across the very beautifully dressed, ignorant and
uneducated late-twenties children (daughters) of the nouveau riche rubbing elbows with hookers and pimps
thinking that they’ve made it big because they’ve become a part of exclusive
clubs that hates their guts and exploits them to snort just another line of
cocaine before they go back to “mommy” and “daddy” for some more money.)
As though the nouveau riche want to forget that their very wealth is the very
porthole to a civilized society, the responsibilities and obligations that come
with that money are astounding.
The nouveau
riche
of the Wedge neighborhood seem to pity mediocre artistry rather than
support intellectual wit, developed skill and mature ability to continue to
evolve, change and explore.
(I
don’t owe you anything. I made my middle class money without having to sleep with the enemy. I made my money through
hard work, the sweat of my eyebrow and salty tears at being passed up time-and-time
again (to teach me the lesson of humility), yet I haven’t kissed your royal
hinnies thus far and I refuse to now that...)
What’s the point of being nouveau riche without the prestige of sophisticated class, elite
humility and social responsibility?
In these parts, the nouveau riche confuses the bizarre and eccentric with the professional arts; the nouveau riche confuses sophistication for patty cake.
If you watch them buy art then one can
understand their ignorance of the sciences and mathematics.
It’s easy to tell that the nouveau riche made money and lots of it but they haven’t
made a contribution to the sciences, the arts and mathematics. Not really.
(Nope.
Don’t give me that look. I know what you buy and find important to impress others
by. I try not to gage in front of you because it’s my responsibility to hold my
emotions steady while you pretend to know the difference between bad and great
art.)
In these parts, people have become so
disillusioned with their self importance that they won’t make room for others
on sidewalks. It wasn’t always like this.
When in Rome do as the Romans. Move over. It’s a sign of respect not
weakness. This is not Asia. Learn to walk properly amongst the streets of the
United States of America. Otherwise, you’re just considered a “hick” even if
you’re of Asian origins. (I could write about the word “hick” all day long.
It’s derogatory but the thing is that I love those “hicks” that I’ve made
friendships with whether racism is a part of life of not.)
Here, we used to respect life and not go off
on ego trips because it’s easy to tell that our civilians feel powerless by
trying to take up all the room on the sidewalks and running each other down.
We used to move aside for one another because
our pioneering great-grandparents and Christian Great Depression era
grandparents did teach us some manners unlike the Baby Boomer’s nouveau riche and their classist desperation. Pity.
What a shame.
What’s the point of being nouveau riche without the prestige of sophisticated class, elite
humility and social responsibility?
I’d rather be middle class with the prestige of social
responsibility and humility than nouveau riche for a roasted pig with an apple
in its mouth or a rabid American dog missing a hind leg.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. No, I wouldn’t like to meet some of my
favorite writers. I’d rather read their work.
I stay away from “hanging out” with other
filmmakers, writers and photographers. What
good will it do? Unless they can speak to some serious shop!
Now, bronze metal sculptors, oil painters,
professional stencil and politico graffiti artists and animators (illustrators
/ cartoonists) pull at my heart’s strings. I love art that I can’t create
because I lack the skill, the knowledge and the know-how but it doesn’t mean
that I can’t give these artists a run for their money in conversation; (wink,
wink). Aloha. (Take art theory of many different genres sometime and you’ll
begin to understand the delicate and harmonious intricacies between art mediums
and forms.)
June 8, 2012
“Affirmation without
discipline is the beginning of delusion.” - Jim
Rohn
“Doing is a quantum leap from
imagining.” - Barbara Sher
“Don't be afraid to give up
the good to go for the great.” - John D. Rockefeller
“Everyone who's ever taken a
shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and
does something about it who makes a difference.” - Nolan Bushnell
Happy Friday!
Aloha.
I ran out of time for today, slow moving and
paced photo-shoot.
I’m wishing you an exceptionally calm,
tranquillo and kind weekend. We’re tired, satisfied and full of life. We’re
going to hang out, rest and do absolutely nothing.
Goodbye.
Salud!
Gabriela
P.S. “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”
Incredible! Ha!
“Tron: Uprising” Incredible! Ha!
*) “You don’t have to love anybody but you
most certainly do have to respect them.” My Father.
*) When I refer to people not being
“special”, I mean to say that “the world
isn’t looking at you” rather people are looking at the world.
*) I look around when I catch movement. I’m
drawn to movement. I’m looking at the world!
June 7, 2012
“A few months after
graduation I was working in films. It took off pretty quick.” - Moira Kelly
“Americans in particular are
myopic. They're not traveling as much. When you were a college student, the
next thing you would do on graduation was to take a year off and travel. That's
what I did. I went to Indonesia.” - Julie Taymor
“I went to my son's
graduation this weekend, and I heard a great quote I've never heard before from
Albert Einstein. It was that the greatest danger to the world is not the bad
people but it's the good people who don't speak out.” - Hamilton Jordan
“We are living in 1937, and
our universities, I suggest, are not half-way out of the fifteenth century. We
have made hardly any changes in our conception of university organization,
education, graduation, for a century - for several centuries.” - H.G. Wells
“One of the most difficult
speeches to prepare is an address to a graduation class, which is why I don't
often do them.” - Jerry
Moran
Happy Thursday!
Aloha.
Happy post D-Day!
Shall we dance? How about a French melody?
---
--- ---
Dear graduates of the class of 2012; Hello!
(Are you excited or what?)
I’ve been informed that mostly all schools,
colleges and universities have graduated now.
Congratulations class of 2012!
You did it!
We’re so proud of you!
We think the world of each and every one of
you.
You’ll not be alone on this journey on the
path to adulthood. Not only are we proud to accept you and have you as our own
body of civilians but we’re also delighted to have you show extraordinary
ethical and just leadership qualities amongst the adults in everyday living.
I find so many of you to be inspiring to say
the least.
I live in hope and with optimism for this
great Nation of ours because you’re in it guiding the way for a path to a more
mature and sincere intellectual approach to solutions as well as a relaxed
demeanor in the process of learning, wisdom and growth for your tomorrows that
will indeed seek to nurture independent spirits, group-and non-group dynamics
as well as the sciences, mathematics and arts.
We’ve got to put this great giant of a Nation
back on its feet and working again for your sakes and our future children. Now,
the job market is slim out there for many of our youth and graduates. This is indeed a fact in the world today.
Nevertheless, please don’t despair. American graduates, you know who you are,
where you come from and that wisdom will lead you into a stronger outlook. You
hold your youthfulness, health and strength at the palm of your hands as you
endeavor forth.
As you prepare to meet your destinies;
listen, learn new skills, varied skills, dream the impossible; The American Dream with a white picket
fence around it, spreading the commonwealth across the great class divide and
watch your kind and generous passions manifest into something stupendous and
beautiful as with each progressive
practiced liberty your dreams, too, will take flight and indeed soar. Can you
hear the eagles’ echoes in the cannons calling you by name? They will lend you
their bird’s eye view when you have lost your way. You’ll not be lost because
you’ll be where you are, nevertheless, when in doubt head down stream and find
water or head for the branches.
“Stupid people are dangerous.” But idiotic people are deadly.
When you come to the table to negotiate your futures
make sure that healthcare benefits are included in your benefit packages
because that is your life-given right as well as the medical healthcare
coverage for your families (that will all depend on how you understand
political policy and voting outcomes).
Furthermore, even if you find yourselves at the bottom rung on the totem pole still ask
for pension benefits, retirement, freebees, stock portfolio options, IRA,
401K, Social security, worker’s rights, union’s rights, child care (facilities
and / or benefits), privacy rights to personal online information,
transportation coverage, freedom of expression, freedom to work as you see fit
without micro-management or amongst supervisors if you need that type of structure, freedom to be free to think in
marvelous of ways (that may sound silly) but freedom of respect is indeed
difficult to come by especially by quasi leaders in today’s world market. Thus,
you must seek to become the very leaders that
you look to in others.
The world will not cuddle you. You’re not
special and life sure is weird but don’t forget you are indeed important to the
United States of America.
Thus you must make decisions for yourselves
that are self respectful, self loving and amongst a great support system of
elders and equal peers. Shine light upon the world and don’t take advantage of
others, nor assume to know anything about the plights and struggles of others.
People do endure difficult lives of quiet
desperation. Peace.
You’re our beacons of light. We delight in
your insights, logic and humanity as you travel amongst our streets, public
establishments and in relationship to others in mature and respectful
communication. You’re it! You’re as beautiful as it gets and that’s not a
commodity that’s an innate and inherent quality about our graduates, our
people.
How splendid for you to be free souls for the
summer Holidays and beyond. I’m wishing you sleepy afternoons, safe travels,
exercise, inventing personal reading lists, fun by yourselves and amongst peers
and in the public as well as great linguistic communications amongst adults who
don’t speak valley speech.
It’s a mature and complex world out here
amongst the adults and they’ll expect the same from you. This is your rights of passage from this-to-that. If you’ve been called
names or have had little-kid nicknames that you don’t feel is appropriate and
correct for you then this is your time to name yourselves as you best see fit.
Cheers! What’s in a name. Everything.
The thing that I’m learning about the youth
and graduates of America is that they’re not a bunch of nervous civilians.
These young people carry themselves with their chins held up, calm demeanors
and without any of the neurotic contemporary inner city adult tendencies.
You must be strong, cool and collected and
prepared to meet your adversaries, acquaintances and friends turned foes at any
moment. Treat them as you’d have them treat you in direct line of communication
with regard towards breath of life not sabotage.
You don’t have to hold relationships to your
schoolmates ever again but you must uphold spirit, honour and pride in not
speaking ill of those who aren’t present in rooms. Go peacefully and roam the
earth while you gather life saving ideas.
Hip! Hip! Hooray! To you class of 2012.
I bow my head in silence for you; class of
2012.
May you be well guarded from harm, loved,
respected and admired by those who know you for whom you truly are.
I wish you everything that you wish for and
more.
May you be happy, full of life, compassionate,
mindful, and thoughtful, enlightened.
We’ll be watching as you contribute back to
the universes.
The world’s waiting for you to make your mark
upon it. The world’s waiting for your grand entrance and deliverance no matter
how quiet one may be.
With respect, agape love and mutual regard
for your well being and that of your families, neighbors and communities.
“Peace be with you.”
“And also with you.”
Goodbye.
Cheers.
Gabriela
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II. It was the largest amphibious operation ever to take place.
Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on 6 June came from Canada, the Free French Forces, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the weeks following the invasion, Polish forces also participated, as well as contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Most of the above countries also provided air and naval support, as did the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the Royal Norwegian Navy.
The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments. In the early morning, amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah, and Sword began and during the evening the remaining elements of the parachute divisions landed. The "D-Day" forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth.
June 6, 2012
“A real diplomat is one who
can cut his neighbor's throat without having his neighbor notice it.” - Trygve Lie
“How much time he saves who
does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.” - Marcus Aurelius
“A good neighbor is a fellow
who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn't climb over it.” - Arthur Baer
“As for what concerns our
relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor's soul must break all
precept. All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself,
because God is love.” -
Edith Stein
Happy Wednesday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? (No one step on anybody else’s toes. Easy now…)
Hip! Hip! Hooray! To the Wisconsin People’s
democratic process on their recall vote!
It was The People who got their petitions
signed not either one of the political parties.
It’s a shame that citizens will tow the party line because they think that they’re connected to big
money when big money hates their guts and simply wants their rights taken from
them. Maybe, humans are throwbacks indeed of their own enslavement and self
hatred. It’s apparent that Americans hate their children’s future. Pity.
The two branches of the Republican Party; the
GOP Party and the Tea Party aren’t the Republican Party. They’re bullies and
losers. There, I said it! It’s here on ink written for the whole world to read.
They’re throwbacks born with tails between their legs like many of our
Wisconsin voter populous. Both have proven to be throwbacks and unnecessary in
the progress of the evolutionary democratic process.
---
--- ---
“Fuck Niggas” read our front stoop written in
semi-wet cement when we arrived home last night.
My stomach sank and I had to laugh at the
absurdity. “Uptown. Uptown. Uptown.” That’s all I could mutter. I looked at
Eric and we both burst out laughing. It was pretty funny. The badly hand
written words on the concrete steps looked more like they were scribbled out
quickly by an eighth grade coward. A boy’s hand writing it was and three grown
boys that I’ve harshly dealt with recently in the neighborhood came to mind.
My African American close friends, colleagues
and relatives all tell me that there is a major difference between using the
words “nigger”, “nigga” and “niggardly”.
They tell me that if you know the difference
in the usage of the words then one word can be used amongst the African
American populous either peacefully in friendship or as a sign of significant
conflict amongst and between the races. I understand their definitions quite
well. [I meant to say that American women are treated “niggardly” in America by
the Republican Party not as “niggers” (major difference). English as a Second
Language mix up. It happens.]
I don’t hate Minnesota but I could become to hate Minnesota quite
quickly with its self righteous barn animals roaming the urban city.
If you’re traveling through or visiting
Minnesota then you’re a Minnesotan.
I don’t care where you come from, the moon,
even.
If you’re residing or frequenting our public
streets and establishments in the city then you have business here, which only
means that you must conduct yourselves as our sophisticated and respectful
urbanite citizens otherwise you’re just another handout nothing more and
nothing less. A leech. A parasite. A poser standing in the middle of our
sidewalks because you seem to think that you’re entitled to have pedestrian
traffic move around you. Pity. Stupid Midwesterners.
I don’t hate the Midwest but I could become to hate the Midwest quite
quickly with its self righteous barn animals roaming
the land.
Over the past six years, we’ve dealt with
vandalism, graffiti, beer cans and bottles, cigarette butts and garbage thrown
into our yard after bar crowds of college students rip through the neighborhood
like drunken tornadoes (What are you teaching our college students? By their
conduct, nothing much). Year-after-year and week-after-week we pick up the
litter, clean up the graffiti and tags off our garage door and garbage cans and
smile as we move forward.
We’ve wanted to prove that we could make
great civilians by being responsible to the neighborhood. No go. The
neighborhood is hateful, violent and ignorant. “ ‘Random acts of violence’ ”
ought to be the motto for The Wedge neighborhood and its poser demographics of
so called “dead hippie poser vendors”, “peace loving haters” and “pubic hair
working hipsters”. (If you’re a Native American then really get out of The
Wedge neighborhood before they kill you where you stand.) Racism is quite alive
and thriving in The Wedge neighborhood but people want to pretend like it’s not
there with their arrogance and quasi intelligence.
This Minneapolis isn’t like living in other
major metropolises around the globe. The locals call it “Murder-apolis.”
“Money-apolis.” It’s definitely not a “Miniapple-lis”.
I hate how its low brow (rural suburban)
approach to life keeps its citizens using the same hand they wipe with to eat.
I’ve come to find out that Minneapolis is
made up of many rural suburban-area “White trash”, “Euro-trash” and niggardly folk who don’t care if their
neighbors live or die peacefully (of course there are always exceptions).
You couldn’t pay me enough money to live in
The Wedge neighborhood (ever again).
I’ve learned my lesson about the culturally
rude and violent demographics that reside here in the Wedge neighborhood and
half a population of posers and cocaine heads; yes, even the business folks who don’t live in The Wedge neighborhood, but
take advantage of having their businesses reside here, while they bring in an
influx of prostitution, pimps and hard drugs. Oh, you didn’t know that? Well, I eventually found out all too
well. Pity.
---
--- ---
We’re moving out! Basta. Enough!
With that said, you couldn’t pay me enough to live in Duluth, Minnesota either
because it’s the other drunken-violent-racist city that I’ve lived in the likes of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Duluth, Minnesota is the most dangerous city in
my book (people are out for blood), due to all of the mentally handicapped and
the large young adult drunken populous who roam the city talking about making
professional art with nothing to show for. (I know, I see you. I hear you.) My
artist friends in Duluth still live in the slums since 2003 and what they have
to contend with each and every single day is a harsh reality of poverty on the
central hill side. Don’t sell me any tourism. No, Sir! Not to mention meth. I
won’t go there, now!
The only two cities I’ve ever been followed
home by menacing men have been Minneapolis and Duluth. Their people might smile
at you but they’re hateful behind their passive aggressive control freakish
smiles.
If Duluth and Minneapolis folks could slice
your throat open in the middle of the night while you were asleep then they
would because they’ve settled for passive aggressive control freaks. What a
shame.
You can’t eat the scenery no matter how much they sell it to the
public that it’s affordable. Slum cities. (I know, I know.)
Why is Loring Park taken on that aged 1980’s Duluth rose garden brick
sidewalk look?
Loring Park is beginning to look so outdated
and the brick isn’t practical for walking on by our elder populous. Minneapolis
is starting to look more and more like an outdated 1989 Duluth. I thought that
Duluth took its artistic and cultural cues from Minneapolis not the other way
around. Duluth is an “overpriced ghetto” like Minneapolis is with its
prostitutes, drunks and pimps not to forget our ever growing population of
meth, heroin and cocaine heads who snarl at people instead of committing to
linguistic communication.
---
--- ---
You’re looking at the proud new home owners
of a four bedroom, two-bath “Leave it to Beaver” home! Yippee!
I feel like Snoopy with his little ears
bouncing for joy and on top of his gorgeous little dog house typing away at his
letters on a typewriter.
I’m relieved.
I’m beginning to breathe life once more.
We’re almost out of this hateful neighborhood
just as I had to get out of Duluth, Minnesota, but with a professional career
now. We wanted to make a life and retire in Uptown. What a shame that the
neighborhood turned out to be simply an “overpriced ghetto” like Duluth,
indeed. Mm, what’s the common denominator here?
With respect and personal observations.
Gabriela
P.S. If you throw something at my hair then
there will be repercussions to insolent actions. If you have something to say
to me then face me like men and women and say it to my face. I’m sick and tired
of Duluth’s cultural ignorance and déclassé attitudes when they have nothing to
go home and brag about with drunken slurs. I
don’t hate Duluth but I could become to hate Duluth quite quickly with its
self righteous barn animals roaming the city dressed in H.I.V., AIDS and
sexually transmitted diseases.
June 5, 2012
“Throughout the ages, stories
with certain basic themes have recurred over and over, in widely disparate
cultures; emerging like the goddess Venus from the sea of our unconscious.” - Joan D. Vinge
“Venus
favors the bold.” - Ovid
“I did not want to write a
story about the invasion of Earth, so I had to create a race capable of living
nearby, which meant to either on the Moon, on Mars, or on Venus. I picked
Venus.” -
Sarah Zettel
“Venus hasn't been to the
semis for a couple of years in a Grand Slam - she's been coming back from
injury.” - Tracy Austin
“Venus told me the other day
that champions don't get nervous in tight situations. That really helped me a
lot. I decided I shouldn't get nervous and just do the best I can.”
- Serena Williams
Happy Tuesday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance? How about a Tango?
---
--- ---
The next time I looked at a clock it was
1:30P.M.
This was the second time I had locked myself out
of our flat in one month without flat keys. However, the second time I had car
keys and drove.
About a month ago the first time I locked
myself out I walked two miles, got keys and took a bus that I didn’t have
enough change for that particular ride. I placed two dollars into the currency
slot and the bus driver stated, “It’s $2.25”. “I don’t have any more money on
me.” I told him. He pointed with his head for me to take a seat. I thanked him
most humbly and took the first seat across from the bus driver. “That’s
Minnesota nice for you lady! That’s Minnesota nice for you lady!” Shouted a man
on the first seat to the right of the bus facing the front of the bus.
I slipped into my seat and sighed. I was
grateful and just then a young woman stepped forward while the bus was moving
with her one arm outstretched before her towards the coin slot she said “This
is for her.” I became further humbled and I showed my appreciation. (I don’t carry currency with me, unless I’m
going someplace where I purposely am intent on spending it. Otherwise, the
world is a free place to breathe and walk which doesn’t require currency.
Cheers!)
--- --- ---
Today I drove, parked at a digital meter and
figured out its logical process. I have to
be in the habit of doing something repetitiously otherwise I forget the
dance steps in the muscle memory. I paid close attention to the digital meter’s
literary instructions and followed the
directions to the letter.
I turned from the meter and walked directly
ahead, crossed a green light then crossed another street light and forward.
I entered a tall glass building with branches
for floors.
I know this building’s exterior contour lines
well.
Nevertheless, when I entered the “tree
building” I couldn’t make heads or tails of it in its interior. I’ve been
inside that building perhaps a total of five times in the past several years.
At the entrance doors, I hesitated, turned
and stepped forward onto a set of moving escalators then stood still as it advanced
upwards and forwards, turned right at the top to a set of elevators, climbed
into the mechanical box and thought ‘this must be a trick question’. The
elevators only read up to so many floors and I needed to get to a higher set of
floors.
I considered how a tree’s branches are shaped
and thought, ‘Oh, if I get to the highest floor on this elevator then another
set of elevators will take me the rest of the way to another set of upper
floors’.
Nope. No, go. My logic was too literal of a tree’s branches.
I continued to try my set of logic and it got
me nowhere. I made a mental note to take
up “philosophy”. I thought of the man who could teach me about logic in about
one hour or so over a stupendous lunch as a gift of gratitude with no strings
attached in the exchange for knowledge (I’ve taken many philosophy courses but
what I haven’t understood, is, the many intricate mechanisms to logic. It’s
only a matter of time). Done!
I exited the elevator on a random floor and a
most lovely modern and professionally dressed Asian woman held the elevator
door for me after she stepped into the machine. She noticed my hesitation just
outside the elevator doors.
I opened my mouth to speak to her and
realized that I hadn’t yet brushed my teeth after a spicy tomato lunch and a
100% tobacco cigarette in prayers to the Gods for Venus and her crossing.
I didn’t hesitate. I figured she was an adult
and would understand difficult predicaments.
I told her where exactly I needed to go and
what floor, she understood perfectly.
As she began to give me a set of directions I
listened and jumped back into the elevator.
“You give concise directions.” I said to the
buttons ahead of me and pressed a button to a main floor on the concierge
lounge.
We stepped out of the elevator together (she
came across as a comfortable woman in her skin, as well as stylish and sincere
in gorgeous makeup). It had to be her
ancestors. I thanked her ancestors for their offspring.
She took me directly around a corner to the
left (not to a single elevator by itself), rather to another set of elevators
that read all the way upwards to the highest set of upper floors. ‘Oh,’ I
thought. ‘This is how one gets to the upper branches of this tree.’ I signed in
sign language directly ahead of me the words ‘thank you’. We parted ways. Thank
you! What a guardian angel. That’s the type of woman that has the leadership
abilities in skills to lead any team, anyplace, anytime.
No, I didn’t feel like a lost puppy. I’m too East Coast style for that. She was
aware that I was grateful and did in fact require assistance. She is
an alpha and not afraid of any other animal in the world. It was obvious
because she wasn’t cruel. I would’ve breathed more deeply had I not left the
house tobacco smoky and without a fresh mint. Cheers to adult women!
‘What a lovely tiger,’ I thought.
---
--- ---
I moved on with my set of instructions
permanently pressed against my short-term memory. I stepped into the second set
of elevators, pressed a particular upper floor and that specific button flashed
light but it didn’t stay lit. ‘Ayayaii, what is this?’ I thought.
I got out two floors above and below the
indicated floor in which that silly flashing button kept giving me a flashing
signal. Who knew? Not I. A flashing
elevator button signal means one may not enter that particular floor. I thought the elevator was broken.
(Communication and miscommunication: the linguistics of logic).
I stepped out of the elevator on both floors
and took different elevators to see if the buttons were broken on each
particular elevator stall or in all. The light did in fact flash on both
elevators and wouldn’t stay lit on both floors. ‘I feel like a primate in a
lab.’
Once again I got out on the concierge floor
and went back to the first set of elevators. I wanted to know if those
elevators flashed light as well on the buttons like that of the other set of
elevators on the upward floors.
A mutual close friend of a friend from a
former school stepped into the first set of elevators on the lower set of
floors.
I tried not to breathe inside such an
enclosed space.
I directly called her by name. She responded
wisely with a nod and pressed a button. “ ‘I’m so-and-so’s friend.’ ” I stated
my name straight at her. She looked at me directly and I at her. “I thought I
recognized you.” Her voice was warm and I liked her immediately as I have every
other time we’ve met in social situations over the past seventeen years. We
didn’t pretend to know each other well but we had utmost mutual respect and
regard for one another. She was on her way someplace and I wasn’t about to keep
her from her errands.
“How do you do?” I got formal as a sign of
respect.
“Do you work in this building?”
“No, I don’t work in this building.”
“I’m wondering if you could lend me some
assistance.” She had no idea how fast I was translating.
“Sure.”
“I rode the other elevator and the floor that
I needed flashed a light. I don’t seem to be able to step out onto that floor.”
“That’s because you need a key card for that
floor. You need to go back to the next set of elevators and if that doesn’t
work then ask the con______.” She abruptly stopped speaking and I picked up
where she had left off “concierge, thank you.” When the elevator opened she stepped
out and we waved goodbye. She knew how grateful I was. I didn’t have to explain
anything to her.
I was dressed in an old light blue grey
T-shirt (that’s too large at the shoulders and exposes undergarment straps
(which I kept tugging at the ill fitted T-Shirt), torn cuffs flipped (four
inches) at the bottom of my dark grey jeans and flip flops.
I waited at the lobby for what seemed like
only 20 minutes while I looked at titles of books on racks beautifully
displayed. I placed my hands behind my back the entire time while looking
through books to indicate my interest but not once brought myself to touch any
of the merchandise.
---
--- ---
I sat and watched Queen Elizabeth II on a
Television set in a lobby on furniture that didn’t allow for my short legs to
reach the floor. I looked back three times to see if the concierge was back. On
the fourth look, there was a woman dressed in business attire.
I rapidly approached her desk. I had no idea
what to say to her once I reached her (and caught a former acquaintance of mine
out of the corner of my eye. I kept going), “hello.”
Hello.” She answered back. “May I ask you a
question?” She sat up. She was all bright eyed.
“I’m trying to get to floor __. The light on
that button continues to flash.”
“That’s because you need a key card.” I
already knew that information.
“I’m wondering if I could make a call up to
the floor.” She got awkward and lost her erect posture. I, too, got slightly
awkward with her awkwardness and loss of posture. “I’m trying to locate” and I
stated the name of the business.
“That’s on floor __.”
“Oh! Thank you.” I was elated to find out
that it was a floor below the one I thought.
I clasped my hands like a monk and said,
“Gracias.” I speed away from her awkwardness of what I can only imagine it to be my bad breath and smoky smell.
I darted out of her line of vision as quickly as I could.
---
--- ---
I made it onto the floor I wanted all along
in the first place and a woman stepped through a door. “Do you work here?”
“Yes.” Stated a tall and lanky lovely woman.
“ ‘I’m so-and-so. Could you possibly notify
so-and-so that I’m here?’ ” She smiled a kind and warm smile “I’ll let him know
you’re here, immediately”. “Thank you for your kindness.” I told her as she
stepped through a glass door. She made my day. I finally breathed with all my
might. I smiled.
---
--- ---
By the time I made it back to my parked car
out on the street. It was 1:30P.M.
I got locked out of the flat at 12:30P.M.
What an hour of my life! So much happened. All the ladies I encountered today
understood predicaments of the female type and I didn’t have to explain myself
to a single one nor were they cruel to anyone. That would’ve been the last
thing I needed today. Thank you.
Not once did I get nervous. I figured that
I’d figure it out, somehow.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. In honor of Venus and her crossing. May
the sun look favorably upon her as she makes her journey across the sky.
June 4, 2012
Aloha.
*) Oh, goodness, must I spell it out for you? Okay. If I must then I will! Here goes
nothing.
Yes, “zombies” must have suffered a form of
death before they can truly be called “zombies” otherwise they’re just called
cannibals (there’s a type of mite that burrows into the brain of wasps and
turns them for all intense and purposes into “zombies”).
As I understand it, a spiritual death can
have a birth or a continuous death. You choose. A death is a death and that
includes an intellectual, spiritual and philosophical death. Moving on. Next.
*) Today a 315 pound pudgy Caucasian man in
his fifties mocked me openly in public and all I could think was, ‘Oh, he had
his balls cut off a long time ago by a woman in his life.” Pity. Pity. Pity.
I wanted to tell him, “Please stop being mean
to me.” No words escaped my lips.
I could smell lard-rot on his skin from about
a foot away. “Watch both ways before you cross the street! Watch both ways
before you cross the street!” He let out a fat little chuckle and continued
with it while he gave his under fat-chin-a-wattle. “Watch both ways before you
cross the street!” He was the only one laughing at his sick sense of humor
coincidentally at the exact same corner that I almost got struck by a cyclist
last week.
The pudgy man was purposely being
condescending and mocking.
His party and anyone around us could hear it
in his voice that he meant hatred.
The Minnesotans around him went quiet like
frightened birds as they do when bullies are around because they’re afraid
they’ll be next. (Don’t pity the Minnesotans. Instead show them true compassion
not shallowness. Minnesotans aren’t compassionate they’re passive aggressive
control freaks who like to hurt people because they hurt themselves.) Gross.
There’s no reason to speak to strangers while
in public even if you’re dressed in a light baby blue business shirt, black
pants, cheap loafers and red pudgy skin pretending to be upper middle class
without any manners.
A gender rule of etiquette, a man does not address
a strange woman in public, ever.
A woman will address a man. Otherwise a man
is considered a freak. Men will get introduced to women through and by means of
mutual acquaintances otherwise, freaks.
Aloha.
---
--- ---
Theological Corrections: (I thank the Gods
for notes.)
I was taught to believe that humans are flowers and flowers are humans. Listen to the screams of infinite
voices cry out every time a flower is plucked.
“A government, for protecting
business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and
decay.” -
Amos Bronson Alcott
“All institutions are prone
to corruption and to the vices of their members.” - Morris West
“And I am saying, how about the
other two branches? And putting the pressure on our representatives in the
Senate and the Congress, and the court system. They should be counter-acting
this corruption, but they are sitting there silent.” - Sibel Edmonds
“As a columnist, I realize
that whatever amount of corruption I expose, half my readers will block it out,
although they may get a frisson of joy in the process.” - Margaret Carlson
Happy Monday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance?
A recall
election (also called a recall referendum or representative
recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from
office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended. Recalls, which
are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition, have a history dating
back to the ancient Athenian democracy and is a feature of several contemporary
constitutions.
--- ---
---
An
open letter to our dearest neighbors and The People of Wisconsin; Hello, dear
ones;
[Hello. Hi. We live worlds apart from one
another and let’s not pretend that this
is anything other than a form of communication in the style of an open forum
letter. Nevertheless, I’ve been meaning to write some words… hopefully filled
with intelligence (nothing more and nothing less).] (I’ll do my best for your sakes.)
I
want to write so many words with the freedom of the eagles flapping wings.
I
want to do well by you, truly. But it seems that the cat’s caught my fingers.
I’m going to go drink a little cold water and take a break then come back to
this. I want to generate creative justice not egotistic incoherent nonsense.
I’m
sorry I’ve got two left feet going on today. Ah, Mondays!
Fighting
corruption is not about voting Republican nor Democratic.
It’s
about bringing justice to light.
(I
just spread my wings. Are you ready to fly with me? Freedom!)
--- ---
---
Let me get this straight: Republican Wisconsin Governor Walker
and his toadies did away with unions? Is that correct? I’m hearing it from The
People. If that is correct, then I have you all in intellectual checkmate.
Would you like a freebee?
Hypothetically,
if indeed Republican Wisconsin Governor Walker and his toadies did in fact cut
Unions or Union’s rights for workers and unions alike, then that’s not a leader
of The People, period. That’s a…
Whoever you are consider
this freebee point: To
cut Unions is to leave the State or Corporations in charge of worker’s rights
and benefits. Right? Right. Yes? No, worker’s rights and benefits must always
stay in the hands of workers and in the best interest of their families.
If
Unions are cut then The People will have to choose a lesser of two evils: I’ll spell it out for you: The People’s
healthcare and worker’s rights and benefits will be left up to the slavery of
the State and the greed of Corporations: We
don’t think so! It’s not good enough for the times. Get it out of here! That’s like saying that it’s okay for children
to be sold into sexual slavery. No. No. No. It’s not okay. It’s not okay to
throw babies into dumpsters. Ha! You got my point. Moving on.
Checkmate: Are politician’s policies, throwbacks?
What is this? A two-headed dog? Okay, maybe.
Allow for me to check you: A throwback is something that humans
no longer require in the evolutionary DNA structure and cellular form. Like a tail
for example. (Oh, you didn’t know that humans are born with tails at the
coccyx?) Well, humans are. It’s a fact. (Look it up.)
Thus,
to take a thousand steps backwards and to cut unions from the picture can only
mean enslavement. Why not? Point being:
The Industrial Revolution proved that Americans enslaved their children who did
in fact work in factories without much water, food and meager wages not to
mention in filthy and unhealthy conditions and environments as it is today in
the mines of Cambodia. This isn’t ancient history, this is happening today in
our present era. (“Wake up.” I whisper to you with respect.)
Workers
are to keep their worker’s rights and union benefits intact until the end of
civilizations.
Why
would any American of any political party want to institutionalize a throwback
system such as going back to the days before unions and humans born with tails?
Why? It’s like saying that workers don’t mind eating dirt. Not true! Don’t
shove their faces into the mud either. It’s not dignified.
Checkmate: Goodness. Americans will work.
Americans have proven to be hard physical labor intensive workers and they
won’t stand for BPA in our plastic water bottles shipped all over the world,
dog food that will poison our pets and toys that will poison our children.
Americans
want to work freely knowing that the products they make are a great source of
pride for them. At the end of the day Americans want to go home and make a
little food to serve up to their beautiful families and sleep well, knowing
that no toy or dog food will poison the children and the pets of the world. We
want to know that not only will the Americans’ worker’s rights will stay intact
and that they must not be forced to watch their children drown insignificant
deaths behind locked gates on 2nd and 3rd class decks.
If
I must beg then I shall. I shan’t borrow or steal. I will, however, get down
upon my knees. No, I won’t take off any layers of clothing and dance for you in
chains, but I most certainly will take to my knees and breathe the voters of
Wisconsin a prayer. (See, how I did that, a little poetry for you.)
The
decision is up to The People of Wisconsin:
If
The People of Wisconsin vote away unions, then will they make the Americans
into throwbacks with tails at the base of our spines?
If
unions are cut in Wisconsin then they most certainly can become cut anywhere
else in the country.
I
expect nothing but leadership from The People of Wisconsin because they know
very well the history of our great depression era grandparents and pioneering
great-grandparents who worked down to their bones their entire lives without
union healthcare benefits and worker’s rights. We already know this history
quite well.
You
know what to do! Rock the vote! Give those politicians a run for their money.
My intellectual money is on The People of Wisconsin! (I don’t gamble, so that
tells you a lot.)
(I’ve
got many more responsibilities to meet still yet.)
Much
Respect,
Gabriela
*)
Of course, prayers are with our family in Italy and those in Cavezzo.
*)
Of course, prayers are with our family and friends in Joplin, MO as their
houses have been built incorrectly by irresponsible contractors. What a shame.
*)
About a month ago now I hopped on a bus with two dollars in my pocket. I didn’t
realize how much bus fare is. I was short a quarter or two. A young lady in her
mid twenties placed a quarter or two into the bus slot for me in exchange for
my shortage in currency at that time. Thank you! What a guardian angel. I’m
glad to inform her that I have now paid it forward a hundred times. Cheers! (I
don’t carry currency with me unless I must.) I had no idea that bus fare was so
expensive. We’ve got to do something about public transportation fares, soon.
*)
I’ve taken to sporting 30 SPF even though it leaves the most unattractive
smears from the thickness of the cream. I guess, the research shows not to wear
SPF any higher than 30. Oh, well. I’d rather look goofy with zebra stripes then
get skin cancer (melanoma) again.
*)
Yes, I sport an inch scar upon my left cheek from having a tumor removed March
of 1999.
*)
No, I don’t hate anybody. Watching a world confuse theological Indian
philosophical ideals is like watching anybody piss on a cross. You’d almost
have to turn away and not look. That’s that.
--- ---
---
*) When I play intellectual chess, the only
exchange is an intellectual one. There’s no sexual innuendo about it. So, get
your brains out of the gutter and start thinking of how to beat me at
intellectual ideas, thoughts and points. Ha! I’m trying to get you to use your
noggins. Moving on. Next.
*) Yes, in the gulf we’re still dealing with
blind lobster and wild sea life being born with extra limbs and body parts that
ought not to be there. Creepy. The British Petroleum oil spill is far from
over. (Just saying. I don’t have amnesia over here. I’m keeping vigilance.)
*) A Zombie run. Ha! Weird! (Forgive them for they know not what they
do. Forgive their ignorance of the ancient indigenous rituals, prayers and
ways. To portray is to bring to life and to summon the dark spirits of the
universes into this one.) Crazy humans! It’s like watching anybody piss on
a cross. You’d have to turn away and not look.
Americans wonder why they’re hated around the
globe, mainly due to cultural ignorance, the ability to make the Indigenous
ways into a mockery and arrogance that their humor is valuable and shared by
all.
Don’t hate the Americans. They simply turn
everything into a venture, a joke and into the idiotic because they fear that
what they’ve been taught is indeed limited because it is. They don’t know about
the powers of the Universes. They only know about their egos as their Gods.
Thus, they understand this idealism to be shallow because it is but they don’t
know how to stop it and show respect for the living. Any Indian will tell you
that…never mind. It won’t make a difference.
You know that a “Zombie” is a cannibal due to
irrational thinking from drugs and / or other modes of cerebral alteration that
have gone haywire in the brain. A zombie has lost their faculties to think
logically, reasonably and with kindness. Cannibalism is not acceptable! It
won’t do. It’s not good enough. Get it
out of here! Crazy humans and their hatred for life!
No, I don’t foresee a Zombie apocalypse but I
do foresee other types of apocalypses to keep a close eye on if humans are
careless, self centered and arrogant of their ignorance.
*) I’m so tired of homeless going through garbage
cans. It’s a sign of the times, indeed.
*) Please don’t hate me because I make many
grammatical errors and at any moment I wish I could bust out in other
languages. It’s your English language and I’m trying my hardest not to mess it
up. English is such a difficult language. Truly. I can’t explain to you my
daily linguistic struggles in translation. (Sigh.) (Also I’m passionate. I
won’t apologize for that.)
*) I’m working at not having an accent
whatsoever in front of any of you.
June 2, 2012
“Drugs are merely the most
obvious form of addiction in our society. Drug addiction is one of the things
that undermines traditional values.” - Christopher Lasch
“I admire anyone who rids
himself of an addiction.” -
Gene Tierney
“Alcohol and drug addiction
are problems, and we should use outside agencies that know the business. They
do business all over the country. Why don't we contract them to do it? See, we
should be in certain businesses.” - Richard M. Daley
“She goes from one addiction
to another. All are ways for her to not feel her feelings.” - Ellen Burstyn
“The addiction to sports,
therefore, in a peculiar degree marks an arrested development in man's moral
nature.” - Thorstein
Veblen
Happy Saturday!
Aloha.
In continuation and in conclusion about illegally
homemade bath salts:
No, I don’t think that fast food nor soda
ought to be regulated by government just as I think drugs ought to be taxed and
instead of having that currency stay in the pockets of a few (CIA, Washington,
“speculation” according to civilians from other global regions), now, civilians
can begin to rebuild a future educationally and through infrastructural
development from the profits of illegal drugs, fast food, alcohol and tobacco. Our country is falling apart, literally.
(Where have our troops gone when we need them most?)
Now, with that said in 1999, when Duluth,
Minnesota was about to implement soda vending machines into the high schools I
was indeed outraged that adults made such terrible decisions for the overall
health and well being of our youth and that they would place this vice of empty
calories into the hands of students. These
adults in this community sold our students down the river for a few pieces of
silver.
It’s like giving a baby a loaded gun. Cheap and fast solutions aren’t always
excellent solutions, simply lazy and greedy.
So, the arguments went that the proceeds from
these soda vending machines would fiscally sponsor academic and athletic endeavors.
Whatever. I’d rather have an organic (lead and pesticide free) farm sponsor
academic and athletic endeavors. (I can just picture the athletic uniforms with
little cartoon vegetables on the front sporting a healthy lifestyle ideal.)
Anyway, since those thirteen years the
percentage of obesity in our youth has sky rocketed (look it up) and diabetes
has risen. Can you say drug addiction?
Why would adults in leadership positions
do that to our youth? Gods, why do people in leadership roles (who can make
a difference) make horrible cheap and
fast decisions? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that what we
eat is what we become.
Ergo, the adults of the "Millennial
Generation" got lazy about caring and parenting by allowing for soda-pop
vending machines to enter the high school system when they ought to have been
fighting against it tooth and nail for the sakes of their young. [But, again, that’s not saying much. It’s
evident by the choices made that the Baby Boomers hate their offspring because
they’ve allowed for so many horrible decisions to go into effect for the past
twenty years. The Baby Boomers, they, too, mostly are obese and possibly can’t
stand to watch their offspring thrive because envy reigns in their little
hearts (speculation). What a shame.
The Baby Boomers really did drop the ball and thankfully they’re retiring from
their professions.]
Look, there isn’t much of an argument here: The
reasons as to why I don’t trust the United States of America and its government
completely is because our civilian
population has become a culture of rabid drug addicts. It’s so apparent.
No, I’m being told that it’s mainly
pharmaceutical drugs rather than illegal street drugs that Americans are
hooked. Mm, how did we let that happen?
No, I didn’t know that antidepressants had so
many unusual side effects on the populations. I thought they were placebos,
(sugar pills). I guess those days are long gone.
I think that anything that alters brain
chemistry is a drug. The more drugs that
are brought into this country and distributed the more it’s noticeable that
we have become a society of junkies. What a shame.
In conclusion, on the topic of “Zombies”.
Yes, the Ancient Maya already predicted “Zombies” as well as “Mutants” and
“Aliens”. This is nothing new to the history of humanity. Relax. Breathe.
Practice building and developing the muscles in your frontal lobe. Wonderful.
Frontal lobe means civilized civilizations! Yippee!
The challenging question is this: Does the American government hate its citizens
so much that it will allow for the CIA to bring in hard drugs upon our shores
and to allow for pharmaceutical companies to pump our citizens full of highly
addictive and dangerous drugs?
If the goal is to treat the civilian
population like lab rats, then let us know, now.
If this is a huge experiment to create a
die-off to an already overpopulated world then one aspect of culture that
wasn’t calculated into this lab rat experiment was the rabid, hateful and
destructive set of behaviors that have been implemented into the very fabric of
our civilization. Will you not help us?
Please, someone in power have a heart. Please.
I’d rather starve alongside our fifth world
citizens if this is indeed a massive die-off, then to be taken out by drug
Zombies.
I don’t trust the American government because
our civilian populations have become completely irrational, rabid and crazed
animals without the ability to use their frontal lobe under the influence of
homemade bath salts and other illegal and legal drugs. It’s not good enough. Get it out of here!
I refuse to believe that this pull of strings
isn’t done by bored leaders. Wake up. Your people suffer. Wake up from your
fairy tale spells. Breathe life back into the very root of our civilization. Frontal
lobe! Frontal lobe! Ha!
What leaders cultivate a culture of drugged
up and illogical civilians? Tragic.
Sincerely,
Gabriela
P.S. Mental Notes:
*) Aloha, Mr. Presidente Obama. Wow, how
cool! President Barack Obama was here in Golden Valley yesterday! Cheers.
*) I wanted to wish the lovely Queen
Elizabeth II beauty, peace and safety on her Diamond Jubilee. How splendid.
What a role model! I look to her to be a lady in the world. Thank you. Please
accept my humble words on the Queen’s tremendous career milestone in public
service. I’m a mere mortal showing support for one of our greatest
contemporaries.
---
--- ---
*) On Film Critics! Aloha.
The more time and consideration a film critic
gives to writing about any film then that’s a real source of pride and joy to
have professional critics care enough to write anything about any film.
The harsher a film analysis or a critique
then the more the source for pride and joy it ought to bring to any
filmmaker(s) because it’s the big leagues and they’re playing in the majors. Get it? Tie your shoelaces, get out
there confidently knowing that you can hit a cinematic homerun.
I’ve not once have had a film critic offer so
much as a word about my films in doing the films the honor of having them
reviewed (much less get back to me in communication) because the films don’t
make big ticket box office money and they’re considered insignificant. What a
shame. (I’m giving them a run for their money.)
In America if art doesn’t make block buster
profits then it’s irrelevant to the culture and that’s a Greek Tragedy. (Don’t
give me that look.) I know the many truths about the world and it doesn’t bug
me to be a “little-human” with tremendous dedication to the art of thinking,
analysis, logic and reasoning.
I’m cheering all film critics on to be as
they are and to continue to give the filmmakers a run for their money on harsh
analysis and reviews of their films. What an honor!
“The Avengers”. I saw it in theatres, once,
and I’d like my money back.
I left feeling so shallow and empty like I
had been eating cotton candy all day long and by the time the film was over I
went in search of vegetables to fill my soul and nourish my body.
“The Avengers” bombed and we all know it to
be so.
This doesn’t mean that we don’t support and
think highly of the filmmakers because we do. But really? That’s what they
gave us to contemplate? It’s not good enough. It just won’t do for the
times.
The difficulties that The People are having
against big power, big money and big corruption such as how to feed and educate
their young much less pay an arm-and-a-leg to go to the movies is much too
obvious to ignore because people’s lives are much too difficult, indeed.
Back to one. Back to the drawing board. I’m
so surprised no one stepped in before sinking this film into the can and said,
“No. It simply won’t do. It’s not good enough.”
---
--- ---
*)
Should wealthy people’s sons get free athletic scholarships to colleges and
universities? No, absolutely not. The end.
Everybody already knows the answer to that. Come on!
That’s a freebee not a trick question on the social exam about classism and
elitism. What a feudalistic culture!
Anybody who has millions to their name to pay
for college or university, and takes away resources from the mouths of those
who can barely feed themselves and in the middle of a real struggle to survive
as they put themselves through school; is either simply someone who stands for
feudalistic classism no matter how well one may package it and sell it to the
public or daft to the dire circumstances of these times. What a shame. That
type of ignorance simply won’t do.
If, one, is wealthy and completely clueless
as to the class struggle of the masses and what’s happening to the American
citizens and civilians on the ground then well, one, ought to pay for education
and the scholarship of another struggling student because one is not
intellectually sophisticated enough to understand the painful realities of the
middle class and the working poor.
How déclassé to rub it in the faces of the
working and the poor, have them eat it and like it. Gross.
Would you be able to eat a feast in front of the starving? I’d
rather starve along with my fellow citizens then have them watch me stuff
myself. Priorities! You can’t have your cake and eat it, too, while the
children of the poor watch you gorge yourselves on elitist egotism and empty
calories. Times have changed.
My grandfather put many young people through
college because he thought it was the right thing to do and he was a proud and
humble middle class citizen. We have him to thank for retired doctors,
philosophers and professional artists today. Now, that’s something to go home
and brag about. What a man! Eat that for Nordic breakfast and Saturday morning
cartoons!
*) Salud!
June 1, 2012
“Addiction should never be treated as a crime. It has to be treated
as a health problem. We do not send alcoholics to jail in this country. Over
500,000 people are in our jails who are nonviolent drug users.” - Ralph Nader
Happy Friday!
Aloha.
Shall we dance?
I’m humbled every single day. Some days more
than others like yesterday. Ha!
Hello. There are so many controversial topics
I’d like to address but I’m a bit timid as an Alpha female because I don’t have
all of my ideas put together as of yet. I’ll think about such controversial
topics as subject matter to writing exercises.
---
--- ---
Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Let’s address the ever so popular
controversial topic of bath salts as a form of illegal homemade drugs.
Now, I don’t know much about the scientific
chemical compounds, synthetic components or mixtures involved in creating such
drugs as homemade bath salts.
I’d have to research it and as in most cases
talk to professional scientists who’d know what these drugs do to the
alteration in the brain-chemistry as a muscle in communication and in
relationship to logical thinking and reasoning. (I’m not a chemist, a scientist
or an herbalist, (even though my adult Indian studies are taking me further
down an herbalist path).
{Now,
let’s not forget that the world is indeed a place of light and shadow, a place
of beauty and destruction, a place of love and hatred, a place of day and
night.}
1)
It’s been brought to my attention that there’s
actual video (I haven’t reviewed) and substantial evidence of a man under the
influence of homemade bath salts, naked on a freeway cannibalizing the face of
another naked man. Okay. (Let’s take it like adults.) Breathe. Exhale.
My deepest sympathies go out to the families
of these victims under the influence of homemade bath salts. I don’t have
anything more to say. (Prayers are with the living.)
2)
It’s been brought to my attention that there
are forms and statistical data of cannibalism in the East Coast across college
campuses due to the influence of homemade bath salts. Okay. (Let’s take it like
adults.) Breathe. Exhale.
My deepest sympathies go out to the families
of these victims under the influence of homemade bath salts. I don’t have
anything more to say. (Prayers are with the living.)
---
--- ---
In Continuation: about illegally homemade bath salts.
I don’t know what to tell you. I have many
thoughts.
A)
I’ve been told by many citizens of many
global regions that the hard drugs imported into the United States of America
are done purposely through the CIA.
Now, I have no circumstantial evidence to back this up
whether it’s folk lore, an urban myth, factual or the truth. All I know is that
I understand that there is a huge influx of hard drugs (meth, cocaine, heroin,
opium) upon our local streets and communities, yes, along with a lot of fast
food and many other aspects of culture.
B)
I’ve been taught by academics the harsh and
difficult history of Central and South America and the CIA drug wars.
Now, one story that comes to the forefront of
my frontal lobe is this: “ ‘A CIA agent had been sent to El Salvador to take
out one of the political leaders in the 1970’s. The one CIA agent murdered this
prominent leader of whatever political denomination and throws him into the
trunk of his car until he can decide how to deposit the body some place.’ ”
(Morbid, I know.) “ ‘ But as the day progresses on under the equatorial boiling
heat, the body begins to rapidly decompose towards night and the agent is
discovered only due to the gravitas of the smells coming from the victim’s
corpse.’ ” The end. I’m still in ah of this tragic and brutal history.
C)
I don’t know about C. Nothing, I guess.
My thesis question is this: if indeed the CIA brings hard drugs into
the United States of America then why not
tax such an import as any other import?
My hypothesis is this: One of two ways, this drug importing is a
slow death and destruction and a slaughter to the culture or it’s a quick buck
through corruption.
Either way, I look at it from a professional
artist’s perspective and consider the following: A) How, do we prevent our youth from killing themselves and cannibalizing
other humans under the influence of homemade bath salts? B) How do we inspire an entire nation to live
honorably, moderately and with an ethical code of conduct? (I know, I know.
It may sound cheesy. Nevertheless, would
you like some fries with that?)
Furthermore, I think that fast food and soda
drinks are indeed fattening not to mention that the hormones, additives and
preservatives are indeed addictive. (Also that fast food tastes outrageously
tasty and, that’s why we don’t eat it in our household, per say). As well as
dangerously addictive yet no differently than any other hard drug that alters
any brain chemistry. (Just so you know I had a dream in sixth grade of becoming
a doctor of neurology but I was a disgrace for a student for such a career path
even though I studied six hours a night.)
You know where I’m going with this: I’m about to begin asking the most obvious
questions: “How did bath salts become
acquired? When? Did bath salts replace another ‘angel dust’ drug, market or
price? What is it about bath salts that are so highly addictive yet deadly like
angel dust?”
Oh, my friend the chemistry student of three
years and medical professional is coming over for a beer. I’ve got to ask her a
few questions about bath salts. I’ll compete this later. Cheers.
(I have more thoughts I’m not done yet.)
Gabriela