so much to say, so little time to write. 4% left on the old battery and i'm too lazy to go get the power cord. I need to write more....but i can' t now, so i will simply copy and paste something i wrote a long time ago and let it lurk.
“Quien es el otro?” my Spanish professor asked her small Pepperdine classroom our first morning of Latin American History in my last semester of my senior year. My nervous companions and I glanced at each other, wondering what she could possibly mean by “the other” and who would be brave enough to answer first. I, too nervous to voice my opinion in a language I still felt clumsy in, answered to myself silently: “everyone different from me.” I was embarrassed and ashamed that my answer was so stark, awkward, and ugly. I thought myself well educated in other cultures, I volunteered in schools with a high Hispanic population, I worked in hospitals in poor rural areas of Honduras, I lived in Italy, and I taught English in Brasil, how is it that I could still harbor such a thought. Just a few weeks earlier while building a house in San Felipe, Mexico I met a woman my same age, and we talked in broken Spanish and English, she told me of her three children and the trials of beginning a family at 14. She marveled at my stories of the university. And as I left a few days later, we hugged, and instead of seeing a poor uneducated girl, I saw a strong woman, holding and laughing with her youngest daughter; she had lived a life much different from mine, but not any less fulfilling or valuable. She had much to learn from me, but I knew that the real lesson that weekend was for me. As I sat in that classroom, I began to realize that no matter how many times I had accepted and loved and learned about new cultures, living in them, breathing them and becoming part of them, it is nearly impossible to lose your sense of fear that different is threatening. How do I overcome that? Everyday it must be done. Everyday when I feel that fear creep in, whether it is in my urban diverse city of Portland or while walking the halls of the malnutrition wards of Honduras, I stop myself; I remember the surprising similarities all of humanity has, and, then, I silently celebrate the differences. It is in that moment, a seemingly small and insignificant moment, that I conquer the fear of “the other,” and rejoice in the love of “the different.”
I think I should continue on this vein soon....seeing as i've now actually lived and breathed what it is like to be the other in a far away land full of strange people and strange customs with strange food.
gypsy on
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Running way too far is strangely gratifying
I finished my 21k trail run in Bend today! Thomas and I headed to Bend after work on friday and set up camp at Tumalo State Park that night. We had a great time and a awesome campsite right on the deschutes.
Playing around bend was a lot of fun, but I was nervous for Sunday's race. Finally i was on the start line. It was tough race in high altitude and a 1000 ft incline. I ran as hard as i could and almost died crossing the dang finishing line. I asked myself a lot why in the world I was doing this...but all in all i'm glad i did. The trail was beautiful.
My competition was steep the two winners of the race were elite athletes, all americans, etc. Serious business. Everyone at the race was crazy fit and serious runners, i felt way outta my league. I pretty much was outta my league, i finished 143 with a 2:01:15 time. Last in my division of 8 :) Don't feel too bad though, it was a national competition full of runners who have been running with elite competition their whole lives. i'm just glad i finished. :)
On the other hand, i think i'll be running 10k's for a year or so....these half marathons are just toooooo long!
Gypsy on
Playing around bend was a lot of fun, but I was nervous for Sunday's race. Finally i was on the start line. It was tough race in high altitude and a 1000 ft incline. I ran as hard as i could and almost died crossing the dang finishing line. I asked myself a lot why in the world I was doing this...but all in all i'm glad i did. The trail was beautiful.
My competition was steep the two winners of the race were elite athletes, all americans, etc. Serious business. Everyone at the race was crazy fit and serious runners, i felt way outta my league. I pretty much was outta my league, i finished 143 with a 2:01:15 time. Last in my division of 8 :) Don't feel too bad though, it was a national competition full of runners who have been running with elite competition their whole lives. i'm just glad i finished. :)
On the other hand, i think i'll be running 10k's for a year or so....these half marathons are just toooooo long!
Gypsy on
Monday, September 7, 2009
The never ending project
Thomas and I spent the weekend unpacking boxes. I've been unpacking boxes for a month now, and it never seems to end. We made good progress, but there are still boxes left. ugh. Thomas also finished up my desk project for me. He did a great job painting and it is very cute. Only one more painting project left!
School starts tomorrow as well, and I'm sorta prepared. I still have work to do. I'll be going in early tomorrow to try and sort things out in my head before we get started. I only will see my students for about 15 minutes each period though, so that takes some pressure off. We don't REALLY get going until Wednesday. Phew! I think I'm just going to do a quick get-to-know you thing and an intro. I hate get-to-know yous, and I'm trying to find one that doesn't totally suck.
I'm so glad it is September, fall is just around the corner! Pretty soon I'll be putting up my Halloween decorations! Yippee!
Anyway, that's life for now. Not to exciting to tell, but exciting to live :) Hope all is well.
Gypsy On.
School starts tomorrow as well, and I'm sorta prepared. I still have work to do. I'll be going in early tomorrow to try and sort things out in my head before we get started. I only will see my students for about 15 minutes each period though, so that takes some pressure off. We don't REALLY get going until Wednesday. Phew! I think I'm just going to do a quick get-to-know you thing and an intro. I hate get-to-know yous, and I'm trying to find one that doesn't totally suck.
I'm so glad it is September, fall is just around the corner! Pretty soon I'll be putting up my Halloween decorations! Yippee!
Anyway, that's life for now. Not to exciting to tell, but exciting to live :) Hope all is well.
Gypsy On.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
In case you were wondering ( i didn't make this up, i wish i were that cool)
Things that go through the minds of 25-35 year olds:
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first
saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually
becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting
90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.
-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to
finish a text.
- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot.. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!
- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.
-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.
-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?
-That's enough, Nickelback.
- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to
be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an
overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet my a$s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3
feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day " Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first
saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually
becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting
90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.
-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to
finish a text.
- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot.. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!
- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.
-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.
-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?
-That's enough, Nickelback.
- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to
be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an
overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet my a$s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3
feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day " Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
School Days
New teacher training started wednesday. complete waste of time, case you were wondering.
someone tell me when Ted Kennedy became legendary....he's a drunk misogynist. I don't approve.
gypsy on.
someone tell me when Ted Kennedy became legendary....he's a drunk misogynist. I don't approve.
gypsy on.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
more and more hypocrisy
I was thoroughly amused by the posters popping up in LA depicting Obama as Heath Ledger's Joker character from the Dark Knight. Regardless of whether I concurred with the poster creator's accusation of evil and socialism, I just thought it was a cool piece of political commentary crossed with art. Then I saw on Drudge today that some LA official is calling it "dangerous and mean spirited." Matt Drudge in his conservative glory then posted a link to a Vanity Fair piece from this time last year where "W" is depicted as the SAME character. Good job Matt, it is now my firm belief that no matter who the president is, someone in the media should hate them, just for the sake of a counter argument
Comments on the Vanity Fair piece included:
In fact, this year i've sunk into a sad rut of almost apathy. I've come to the firm belief that politicians are full of shit, and there isn't anyone of them that are worth a nickal. All the same, we must do the best with what we've got; my eternal optimism will keep me in the voting booths.
gypsy on
Comments on the Vanity Fair piece included:
- Great stuff from the talented Friedman (as always). As "agents of chaos" go, W's right up there with the best of 'em.
- Brilliant and profound.
- Poor Joker, he doesn't deserve this. Bush isn't good enough to wear his face
In fact, this year i've sunk into a sad rut of almost apathy. I've come to the firm belief that politicians are full of shit, and there isn't anyone of them that are worth a nickal. All the same, we must do the best with what we've got; my eternal optimism will keep me in the voting booths.
gypsy on
Friday, July 24, 2009
Who is John Galt?
Launching back into the political arena, let's start with health care. Let's lay out why health care as is sucks:
1. Half of the bankruptcies filed in America are due to health care costs. Are you freaking kidding me? You have cancer and are dying and now you are bankrupt. Insult to injury, literally.
2. Our emergency rooms are stretched beyond capacity because people without health care have only one option when they are sick....ER's CANNOT turn you away.
3. The federal government, by 2015 will be spending 20% of its budget financing health care and there are still millions of people uninsured. The money the gov. spends on health care goes to Medicare, Medicaid, and subsidizing employer-sponsored health care. We, in fact, spend a larger percentage of our GDP on health care than any other industrialized country! Yet, somehow, one-sixth of Americans are uninsured.
4. The lack of preventative medicine, physicals, annual exams, checkups when problems BEGIN to arise, etc, cause people who are uninsured to only seek medical care when their conditions become full blown = $ The percentage of adults who receive recommended preventative care and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex is only 49%.
5. Rising cost of premiums due to administrative costs caused by our multi-payer system (31% of all costs), costly "defensive medicine"(expensive tests doctors run just to be sure they don't miss anything because they are scared of malpractice suits= 10% of health care costs), and a shift from non-profit to for-profit hosptials.
ugly ugly ugly. (I'm pretty sure most of this stuff is correct, but because the internet is a vast web of lies, do correct me if something is amiss.)
There is no question health care needs reform. None.
HOWEVER, i pretty much HATE Obama's idea. ya hate. it's a strong word, but i hate it. I saw Sicko, i was convinced for like 12 seconds...then i did some thinking, some research, and some listening. Here it is:
TIFFANY'S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION, er strike that, HEALTH CARE REFORM AND ALONGSIDE THAT, WHY OBAMA'S PLAN SUCKS
ok actually i don't have a plan. i'm too lazy to come up with an actual plan. Oh, the things i could accomplish for world peace and prosperity if i'd only apply myself. I do have some ideas though, and maybe someone reading this will go ahead and get off their butt and make a plan. I, on the other hand, can only muster enough energy to rant and rave without even paying regard to proper punctuation.
The problem with health care is we have no freaking clue how much a heart transplant costs, how much a liver biopsy is, or the cost of an x-ray. Oh I comparison shop the hell outta soda, I can't tell you how many times i've looked at Ralphs' for coke and said "5.99 for a 12-pack?!?!?!? I can get that for 3 at Albertsons." When was the last time any of us shopped around for doctors? We don't even ASK how much a service will cost most of the time. It reminds me of little kids playing pretend bakery: Q: "How much for a loaf of bread mister baker" A: "1000 dollars please" ;;child hands over a wad of imaginary money;; There is NO accountability whatsoever because we, speaking to those of us with insurance, don't care how much it costs cause we don't pay it!
Let's let some good ol' free market capitalism run rampant for once! OOO no not in health care, that'd be evil! Wrong, case in point....Lasik. Lasik used to cost an arm and a leg and it was "scary" cause lasers in your eye in 1995 were less than credible. Now look! Lasik is cheap, quick, and virtually risk free. Why? cause your insurance doesn't cover it and free market ruled. Companies found ways to do it cheaper and faster to turn a buck...and it worked, again, like it always does.
Next problem, insurance covers everything. How stupid is that???? I believe it was good ol' John Stosel that pointed this problem out. What if we gave everybody grocery insurance. Oh it sure would be lovely beacuse then everyone could have food....but the vast majority of americans would just get straight crap. We'd buy food we didn't need, let food rot in our fridge, and once again, stop checking prices...which, in turn would raise the cost of groceries. It's bad economics, and i didn't even take that class.
On top of that, Obama's plan wants all the rich people to pay for my health care. This entitlement garbage makes me sick. If you want to raise taxes for your crappy socialized medicine make everyone pay. Flat tax the bitch. No matter what you make, everyone pays 4% surtax or whatever. At least make it LOOK like you aren't a jealous rapacious parasite. Now we can go to the doctor and let rich people pay the bill...now I REALLY don't need to do a price check.
Don't get me wrong no one....NO ONE...should go bankrupt because of chemo, transplants, or ongoing prescriptions for chronic health conditions. That's just mean. I'm all for covering the "big stuff" (for the love of all that is holy don't make me defend that statement. I don't know how to define big stuff, like i said toooooo lazy to make a plan.) But little Suzy and hypochondriac Phil need to stop going to the doctor everytime their snot looks a little yellow. It's a flippin cold, have some soup and quit whining for antibiotics, you just raised my premium 10 bucks jack ass.
I think Stosel got in right in his health care special...health savings accounts. Look them up here. I think the benefit is fairly obvious. It addresses all the above problems. It lowers premiums because you have high deductible plans, it makes doctors and hospitals accountable to prices, and, GOD FORBID, allows free market to inch it's way into the health care business, asking docs and hospitals to do it better for cheaper. Sounds like the ticket to me.
Ya ya ya, i didn't cover everything, buy i'm tired of talking about this. Maybe i'm tired because of thyroid problem. I'll call my doctor, it only costs me 40 bucks for him to run a whole battery of tests....i'm covered.
1. Half of the bankruptcies filed in America are due to health care costs. Are you freaking kidding me? You have cancer and are dying and now you are bankrupt. Insult to injury, literally.
2. Our emergency rooms are stretched beyond capacity because people without health care have only one option when they are sick....ER's CANNOT turn you away.
3. The federal government, by 2015 will be spending 20% of its budget financing health care and there are still millions of people uninsured. The money the gov. spends on health care goes to Medicare, Medicaid, and subsidizing employer-sponsored health care. We, in fact, spend a larger percentage of our GDP on health care than any other industrialized country! Yet, somehow, one-sixth of Americans are uninsured.
4. The lack of preventative medicine, physicals, annual exams, checkups when problems BEGIN to arise, etc, cause people who are uninsured to only seek medical care when their conditions become full blown = $ The percentage of adults who receive recommended preventative care and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex is only 49%.
5. Rising cost of premiums due to administrative costs caused by our multi-payer system (31% of all costs), costly "defensive medicine"(expensive tests doctors run just to be sure they don't miss anything because they are scared of malpractice suits= 10% of health care costs), and a shift from non-profit to for-profit hosptials.
ugly ugly ugly. (I'm pretty sure most of this stuff is correct, but because the internet is a vast web of lies, do correct me if something is amiss.)
There is no question health care needs reform. None.
HOWEVER, i pretty much HATE Obama's idea. ya hate. it's a strong word, but i hate it. I saw Sicko, i was convinced for like 12 seconds...then i did some thinking, some research, and some listening. Here it is:
TIFFANY'S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION, er strike that, HEALTH CARE REFORM AND ALONGSIDE THAT, WHY OBAMA'S PLAN SUCKS
ok actually i don't have a plan. i'm too lazy to come up with an actual plan. Oh, the things i could accomplish for world peace and prosperity if i'd only apply myself. I do have some ideas though, and maybe someone reading this will go ahead and get off their butt and make a plan. I, on the other hand, can only muster enough energy to rant and rave without even paying regard to proper punctuation.
The problem with health care is we have no freaking clue how much a heart transplant costs, how much a liver biopsy is, or the cost of an x-ray. Oh I comparison shop the hell outta soda, I can't tell you how many times i've looked at Ralphs' for coke and said "5.99 for a 12-pack?!?!?!? I can get that for 3 at Albertsons." When was the last time any of us shopped around for doctors? We don't even ASK how much a service will cost most of the time. It reminds me of little kids playing pretend bakery: Q: "How much for a loaf of bread mister baker" A: "1000 dollars please" ;;child hands over a wad of imaginary money;;
Let's let some good ol' free market capitalism run rampant for once! OOO no not in health care, that'd be evil! Wrong, case in point....Lasik. Lasik used to cost an arm and a leg and it was "scary" cause lasers in your eye in 1995 were less than credible. Now look! Lasik is cheap, quick, and virtually risk free. Why? cause your insurance doesn't cover it and free market ruled. Companies found ways to do it cheaper and faster to turn a buck...and it worked, again, like it always does.
Next problem, insurance covers everything. How stupid is that???? I believe it was good ol' John Stosel that pointed this problem out. What if we gave everybody grocery insurance. Oh it sure would be lovely beacuse then everyone could have food....but the vast majority of americans would just get straight crap. We'd buy food we didn't need, let food rot in our fridge, and once again, stop checking prices...which, in turn would raise the cost of groceries. It's bad economics, and i didn't even take that class.
On top of that, Obama's plan wants all the rich people to pay for my health care. This entitlement garbage makes me sick. If you want to raise taxes for your crappy socialized medicine make everyone pay. Flat tax the bitch. No matter what you make, everyone pays 4% surtax or whatever. At least make it LOOK like you aren't a jealous rapacious parasite. Now we can go to the doctor and let rich people pay the bill...now I REALLY don't need to do a price check.
Don't get me wrong no one....NO ONE...should go bankrupt because of chemo, transplants, or ongoing prescriptions for chronic health conditions. That's just mean. I'm all for covering the "big stuff" (for the love of all that is holy don't make me defend that statement. I don't know how to define big stuff, like i said toooooo lazy to make a plan.) But little Suzy and hypochondriac Phil need to stop going to the doctor everytime their snot looks a little yellow. It's a flippin cold, have some soup and quit whining for antibiotics, you just raised my premium 10 bucks jack ass.
I think Stosel got in right in his health care special...health savings accounts. Look them up here. I think the benefit is fairly obvious. It addresses all the above problems. It lowers premiums because you have high deductible plans, it makes doctors and hospitals accountable to prices, and, GOD FORBID, allows free market to inch it's way into the health care business, asking docs and hospitals to do it better for cheaper. Sounds like the ticket to me.
Ya ya ya, i didn't cover everything, buy i'm tired of talking about this. Maybe i'm tired because of thyroid problem. I'll call my doctor, it only costs me 40 bucks for him to run a whole battery of tests....i'm covered.
Monday, July 13, 2009
2 Posts in One Day!
Original message: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
in no particular order:
1) 1984 -- George Orwell
2) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- Robert M. Pirsig
3) East of Eden -- John Steinbeck
4) Cry, the Beloved Country -- Alan Paton
5) Joanna Baille's Plays on the Passions
6) The Humanism of Existentialism (okay that's an essay, but still) --Jean Paul Sartre
7) Shame of the Nation -- Jonathon Kozol
8) Harry Potter (i'm not proud of it) -- JK Rowling
9) The Republic -- Plato
10) Fear and Trembling -- Kierkegaard
11) Ines of my Soul -- Isabel Allende
12) On Walden -- Henry David Thoreau
13) The Divine Comedy -- Dante
14) Summa Theologica (not the whole thing.....just the parts i read) -- Thomas Aquinas
15) Antigone -- Jean Anouilh
in no particular order:
1) 1984 -- George Orwell
2) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- Robert M. Pirsig
3) East of Eden -- John Steinbeck
4) Cry, the Beloved Country -- Alan Paton
5) Joanna Baille's Plays on the Passions
6) The Humanism of Existentialism (okay that's an essay, but still) --Jean Paul Sartre
7) Shame of the Nation -- Jonathon Kozol
8) Harry Potter (i'm not proud of it) -- JK Rowling
9) The Republic -- Plato
10) Fear and Trembling -- Kierkegaard
11) Ines of my Soul -- Isabel Allende
12) On Walden -- Henry David Thoreau
13) The Divine Comedy -- Dante
14) Summa Theologica (not the whole thing.....just the parts i read) -- Thomas Aquinas
15) Antigone -- Jean Anouilh
My new life
Hi everyone! It's only been a million years, I know. I'm sorry! Let me catch you up....
I moved back to California and didn't get a job cause california is broke. SOOOOOOOOOOO Thomas moved in with his mom and I moved in with my parents because: A) Living with your parents makes you a rockstar if you are older than 25 and B) We need to pay off some debt and C) We don't want to move somewhere when I don't have a job (OR DIDN'T....ooooooo cliffhanger, keep reading....)
So here we are living with our gracious parental units who are putting up with our sloven ways again. I moved to Oregon (ahh i miss thomas) and started working at the ol' law firm again. BUT a little ray of sunshine happened upon me last week and I was offered a job at Hillsboro High School! WOO FREAKIN HOO! I'm extremely excited beacuse this means i don't have to live with my parents anymore, not that that is embarrassing...it's totally cool.... Anyway, things are in the works, Thomas will hopefully be up here soon taking classes at PCC and training people. But the ETA on that is still out.
Moral of the story, if you live in Portland and you know me....i live here now, will you be my friend.
PS Have I mentioned I'm engaged? YAY!
I moved back to California and didn't get a job cause california is broke. SOOOOOOOOOOO Thomas moved in with his mom and I moved in with my parents because: A) Living with your parents makes you a rockstar if you are older than 25 and B) We need to pay off some debt and C) We don't want to move somewhere when I don't have a job (OR DIDN'T....ooooooo cliffhanger, keep reading....)
So here we are living with our gracious parental units who are putting up with our sloven ways again. I moved to Oregon (ahh i miss thomas) and started working at the ol' law firm again. BUT a little ray of sunshine happened upon me last week and I was offered a job at Hillsboro High School! WOO FREAKIN HOO! I'm extremely excited beacuse this means i don't have to live with my parents anymore, not that that is embarrassing...it's totally cool.... Anyway, things are in the works, Thomas will hopefully be up here soon taking classes at PCC and training people. But the ETA on that is still out.
Moral of the story, if you live in Portland and you know me....i live here now, will you be my friend.
PS Have I mentioned I'm engaged? YAY!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Ameriki
If you haven't heard I'm back in America! I left Mali because the university went on strike AGAIN and it doesn't look like they are even going to finish the year. So, I was tired of tooling around africa with no purpose wasting taxpayer money....so i'm back in Cali.
it's good to be home :) Now....to find a job....
Gypsy On!
it's good to be home :) Now....to find a job....
Gypsy On!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Debbie Downer the Drama Diva
Ya i was. sorry. it happens.
everything will be fine no matter what. i was being negative....
if school never starts and i go home then YAY i get to be with my family and thomas.
if school starts and i get to stay then YAY i get to teach in Africa.
good lord. somebody give me some paxil. what i really needed was a stiff drink!
loves!
gypsy on.
everything will be fine no matter what. i was being negative....
if school never starts and i go home then YAY i get to be with my family and thomas.
if school starts and i get to stay then YAY i get to teach in Africa.
good lord. somebody give me some paxil. what i really needed was a stiff drink!
loves!
gypsy on.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Well I been here before, sat on the floor in a gray gray mood
All i got is a bit of gray tune. not all hope is lost. school could begin anytime. but sometimes the world just turns gray.
Week 3 of strike begins next week. I've been here what? 7months and a couple weeks, check the turtle at the top. I've worked at the job I came to do for 4 weeks. 4.
My heart feels torn in two. Do i stay and hope? Or do i go home to people I love and (possibly) a job in a school that really needs me?
I know i'm worth more than what i'm doing here. i know that thomas is more important than sitting around waiting for a jacked up education system to MAYBE right itself so i can do something. but letting go of a dream and tossing aside a passion that led you to leave all you knew and loved is probably the most difficult thing i've ever been faced with.
ya pride is some of it. quitting, ugh. giving up? these are not words i am used to uttering. i've never quit anything...i've never given up half way through. but it seems that all the available evidence says to abandon ship.
i guess i know what it's like to be the captain of a doomed ship, to lead a labor of love, and as it sinks you just can't bring yourself to leave. you can't pull your feet from the deck because part of your soul lies within the very wood and steel that make up the boat.
so. i'm waiting. i'm waiting because i can't tear myself away, because i sacrificed so much with such high hopes. it hasn't been a complete failure; i've had some brilliant shining moments, but thats probably why this is so hard. i want more than anything to lay this down and run to thomas and my family and a new job but it takes time to complete the messy, incomplete, and impossible job of extracting your soul from your passion.
so family, thomas....patience please. i just need to make sure it's lost. i need to stay a while just in case she rights herself
Week 3 of strike begins next week. I've been here what? 7months and a couple weeks, check the turtle at the top. I've worked at the job I came to do for 4 weeks. 4.
My heart feels torn in two. Do i stay and hope? Or do i go home to people I love and (possibly) a job in a school that really needs me?
I know i'm worth more than what i'm doing here. i know that thomas is more important than sitting around waiting for a jacked up education system to MAYBE right itself so i can do something. but letting go of a dream and tossing aside a passion that led you to leave all you knew and loved is probably the most difficult thing i've ever been faced with.
ya pride is some of it. quitting, ugh. giving up? these are not words i am used to uttering. i've never quit anything...i've never given up half way through. but it seems that all the available evidence says to abandon ship.
i guess i know what it's like to be the captain of a doomed ship, to lead a labor of love, and as it sinks you just can't bring yourself to leave. you can't pull your feet from the deck because part of your soul lies within the very wood and steel that make up the boat.
so. i'm waiting. i'm waiting because i can't tear myself away, because i sacrificed so much with such high hopes. it hasn't been a complete failure; i've had some brilliant shining moments, but thats probably why this is so hard. i want more than anything to lay this down and run to thomas and my family and a new job but it takes time to complete the messy, incomplete, and impossible job of extracting your soul from your passion.
so family, thomas....patience please. i just need to make sure it's lost. i need to stay a while just in case she rights herself
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valentines Day
Had as lovely as a valentines as possible. Moms sent a nice package of goodies and gifts (thanks). Thomas and I talked on skype and AIM and watched a movie "together" - Prince Caspian. It was pretty good, i was entertained.
Normally on Valentines Thomas and I would have cooked a grand meal and rented a movie. Ya i know, SOOO exciting. But the thing is it's a lot cheaper than going out and to a movie. For 10 bucks get a nice bottle of wine/champagne from Trader Joes, make a delicous chicken or pasta dish and snuggle up for a night on the couch. Heaven if you ask me. Especially because i LOVE to cook. Ice cream would of course be included, sugar cookies, brownies, and some sort of delicious pancake breakfast earlier in the morning.
In order to make myself feel better at being mostly alone on Valentines, I made a spectacular dinner of pesto parmesan chicken with spaghetti. It truly was the best thing i've had in months (thanks to John Richard for the pesto parmesan crackers).
Still waiting for news on the strike....slowly losing patience. Let's just say now isn't a good time to send mail, as by the time it reaches Mali there may be no recipient on the others side.......
gypsy on.
Normally on Valentines Thomas and I would have cooked a grand meal and rented a movie. Ya i know, SOOO exciting. But the thing is it's a lot cheaper than going out and to a movie. For 10 bucks get a nice bottle of wine/champagne from Trader Joes, make a delicous chicken or pasta dish and snuggle up for a night on the couch. Heaven if you ask me. Especially because i LOVE to cook. Ice cream would of course be included, sugar cookies, brownies, and some sort of delicious pancake breakfast earlier in the morning.
In order to make myself feel better at being mostly alone on Valentines, I made a spectacular dinner of pesto parmesan chicken with spaghetti. It truly was the best thing i've had in months (thanks to John Richard for the pesto parmesan crackers).
Still waiting for news on the strike....slowly losing patience. Let's just say now isn't a good time to send mail, as by the time it reaches Mali there may be no recipient on the others side.......
gypsy on.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
and so it goes
the strike was supposed to be over today.....not so much. now they are saying classes will be back on next week. sigh. all my feelings of usefulness are beginning to dwindle.
in all honesty, however, if i were a student i would strike too. Here is the situation:
The government has restricted professors to 10 hours of overtime. Generally speaking professor work 30 to 40 hours of overtime. So that is 20-30 hours of classes that dont' have teachers. This translates to classroom full of students that don't have professors. This is also why the freshmen haven't started school.
It's a bad situation caused by the fact there are 6000 students in the English FLASH program and not even near enough teachers. I sure hope this clears up soon, though.
Gypsy On
in all honesty, however, if i were a student i would strike too. Here is the situation:
The government has restricted professors to 10 hours of overtime. Generally speaking professor work 30 to 40 hours of overtime. So that is 20-30 hours of classes that dont' have teachers. This translates to classroom full of students that don't have professors. This is also why the freshmen haven't started school.
It's a bad situation caused by the fact there are 6000 students in the English FLASH program and not even near enough teachers. I sure hope this clears up soon, though.
Gypsy On
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
For my momma
Well we had 4 weeks of class. That's a lot of work for Malians.....so the students went on strike. It is supposed to end and classes resume on thursday....we'll seeeee.
The GREAT news is that we bought Thomas' ticket today. I'm literally dancing around my room.
Momma sent me some valentine's candy and goodies. thanks mom. new valentine socks and undies. i have an unnatural obsession with holiday socks and undies. i just really enjoy the festive britches....makes me feel celebratory to have hearts/candycanes/pumpkins/four leaf clovers/etc. on my dereier. i can't spell in french...obviously. i can speak it, barely, but i can't spell. when i learned it here in Mali they only taught us orally, so we can't write in french at all. it's like being illiterate, kinda weird. Also included in said package was the prettiest apron i've ever owned. i dont' think i want to wear it in this country and ruin it!
Have i mentioned people carry goats on their motorcycles in the city? it's funny.
Racism is alive and well in Mali. For instance Malians insist that only people from the ivory coast and ghana steal things, never Malians. They also make white people pay more for everything. In addition they love yelling out peoples races as a way of getting their attention examples: Hey Chinese guy (to any and all asians no matter what their nationality is), Hey White person, usually followed by "give me money," sooooo whenever i hear tubob i say "oui farofin" which means "What black person?" can you imagine saying any of that in the US? like hey mexican come here. or hey black person where are you going? Joining the peace corps made me racist hahahaha.
Other ways the peace corps has made me a degenerate:
1. i litter now without any qualms. there is no garbage service in mali, so you just throw your trash in the gutter.
2. i have little to no sympathy for most beggers. i know ME who gives money away like it's going out of style. i walk past people 100x a day who ask me for money. i had to stop paying attention. now just old blind people get money.
3. i throw rocks at roosters. they are loud and they wake me up. it's not a deal where i live now, but in sanankoroba i had no qualms about heaving objects at roosters/donkeys/goats
4. i lie. i tell malians i'm going to work all the time when really i'm not. i just don't want to have to figure out how to say wherever my real destination is in French or bambara. work is easy to say and remember
5. i may have, unwittingly, encouraged revolution in my Friday night class at the catholic center. We were discussing foreign aid and it's affect on Africa and Mali. Many of my students feel foreign aid makes it difficult for African nations to achieve independence and it actually increases their dependence. they spoke of corruption, laziness, and the need for a stronger government. the word revolution was used more than once......i let it slide with no comment since i'm not supposed to insight war as a volunteer.
Gypsy on
The GREAT news is that we bought Thomas' ticket today. I'm literally dancing around my room.
Momma sent me some valentine's candy and goodies. thanks mom. new valentine socks and undies. i have an unnatural obsession with holiday socks and undies. i just really enjoy the festive britches....makes me feel celebratory to have hearts/candycanes/pumpkins/four leaf clovers/etc. on my dereier. i can't spell in french...obviously. i can speak it, barely, but i can't spell. when i learned it here in Mali they only taught us orally, so we can't write in french at all. it's like being illiterate, kinda weird. Also included in said package was the prettiest apron i've ever owned. i dont' think i want to wear it in this country and ruin it!
Have i mentioned people carry goats on their motorcycles in the city? it's funny.
Racism is alive and well in Mali. For instance Malians insist that only people from the ivory coast and ghana steal things, never Malians. They also make white people pay more for everything. In addition they love yelling out peoples races as a way of getting their attention examples: Hey Chinese guy (to any and all asians no matter what their nationality is), Hey White person, usually followed by "give me money," sooooo whenever i hear tubob i say "oui farofin" which means "What black person?" can you imagine saying any of that in the US? like hey mexican come here. or hey black person where are you going? Joining the peace corps made me racist hahahaha.
Other ways the peace corps has made me a degenerate:
1. i litter now without any qualms. there is no garbage service in mali, so you just throw your trash in the gutter.
2. i have little to no sympathy for most beggers. i know ME who gives money away like it's going out of style. i walk past people 100x a day who ask me for money. i had to stop paying attention. now just old blind people get money.
3. i throw rocks at roosters. they are loud and they wake me up. it's not a deal where i live now, but in sanankoroba i had no qualms about heaving objects at roosters/donkeys/goats
4. i lie. i tell malians i'm going to work all the time when really i'm not. i just don't want to have to figure out how to say wherever my real destination is in French or bambara. work is easy to say and remember
5. i may have, unwittingly, encouraged revolution in my Friday night class at the catholic center. We were discussing foreign aid and it's affect on Africa and Mali. Many of my students feel foreign aid makes it difficult for African nations to achieve independence and it actually increases their dependence. they spoke of corruption, laziness, and the need for a stronger government. the word revolution was used more than once......i let it slide with no comment since i'm not supposed to insight war as a volunteer.
Gypsy on
Saturday, February 7, 2009
From the Internet Monk
I was only going to link you to this post by the internetmonk.com, but i knew some people would be too lazy to click on it and read it. So i copied and pasted....this brings out everything that is wrong with the cultural war Christians tend to wage. The monk and i don't always agree, but this stuff is brilliant. The emphasis in italics is added by me. www.internetmonk.com
How are you going to fight that fight?
February 7th, 2009 by iMonk
Trevin calls this the pinnacle of wickedness, and no rational, morally sensitive person would disagree. But we don’t live in a rational or morally coherent age.
In the very same week, the President said, at the National Prayer Breakfast, that no one believes in a God who approves of the death of the innocent. Plenty of commentators have pointed out the irony of that statement as well.
But I’m increasingly frustrated by my fellow Christians on this issue. Let me tell you why.
1) There are massive amounts of talk. Constant, never ending talk on radio, blogs and television. But it’s not persuasive talk. It’s the speech of moral outrage, and that is appropriate at times. But it is not the talk of cultural change, mind-changing or policy change. It is the kind of talk that convinces the already convinced, but which makes the unconvinced feel cornered and yelled at.
2) There is an increasing undertone of of “anything goes” in the rhetoric of many Christians. Certainly, this issue will bring about a lot of emotion and strong feelings. But does “anything go?” Can you say anything and do anything without regard for boundaries and restraint? What’s our ethical responsibility when we respond?
3) The endless escalation of this issue will result in violence, either verbal or physical. Unstable people, angered by outrageous acts that inflame their emotions over their reason, will perpetuate a cycle of violence. Christians bear responsibility, in my view, to find a way to focus without creating the beginnings of a cycle of vengeance and revenge in the minds of those for whom violence is justified in this cause.
4) The civil rights struggle should be a great teacher for Christians who are pro-life, but I see little evidence of it. Dr. King and others had a sophisticated response to a deeply ingrained culture of hate: they out-loved, out-risked, and out-suffered them. Yes, there was rhetoric. Yes, there were speeches. But the civil rights struggle was a personal struggle won by people putting themselves on the line and saying “we will quietly, stubbornly, lovingly, sacrificially defeat this evil.” I don’t see leaders emulating or imitating this model. It’s just more and more and more outrage, and little conversion.
5) The Amish school tragedy has haunted many Christians. Are we prepared to respond to moral outrage and violence with greater love and greater forgiveness? Do we even have it in us? If such an act had happened in Christian schools, would there have been angry mobs outside the jails demanding a violent revenge? The lessons in the pro-life struggle are obvious: can we love those who perpetuate this evil? I can take you to blogs right now that will say we should not love them and that we have no responsibility to love them. Our response, according to these discernabloggers, should be hate and retaliation in the name of protecting the innocent.
6) Do we want a fight, or do we want to save lives? Do we want a fight, or do we want to persuade? Do we want a fight, or do we want to humble ourselves as a Christian community and admit how many of those abortions are our daughters? How many are of women living within shouting distance of our churches?
7) Is there a consistent pro-life response among American Christians? Are we outraged by children starving in Africa? Are we outraged by the innocents suffering in war? Are we outraged by child soldiers and the trafficking in sex slaves? Are we outraged by child abuse, sexual abuse and preventable disease? Are we willing to think in terms beyond the clear, outrageously evil stories such as the throw-a-way baby in Florida to see the pro-life issues all around us?
8] Is there a response to the pro-life cause that pays the bills? Writes legislation that makes slow, compromising progress? Is there a response that creates alternatives for women likely to seek abortion? Is there a willingness to risk family embarrassment to deal with our daughters’ pregnancies in ways other than a quick procedure? Can Christians, pastors, churches and ministries make a response that is practical, on the ground and real world, or is the main appeal here the opportunity to be outraged, angry and to keep on shouting?
My students and fellow adult Christians are almost universally pro-life. Some may have marched or answered phones in a crisis pregnancy clinic. I don’t know. Most of what I see is a lot of anger. Shocking pictures. An almost visceral, emotional ranting to release frustration, but little actual engagement or even understanding of the issue beyond what they emotionally hate.
I want to see more. I want a deeper, more effective response. I don’t want to just be angry. I want to see the problem addressed, minds changed, dialogue happen, truth told and people loved. I want to see progress by slow compromise if that is all we can get for now. I want to see Christians consistently applying the pro-life position to all of life.
The scripture says that the anger of man doesn’t create the righteousness of God. The way of love is far more difficult, but it is not optional for the follower of Jesus.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
the grind 59 days
a bit of an update:
School is going along fine. i'm really enjoying teaching there. some of my classes have yet to start due to a problem registering freshmen....there are always problems in mali! But the classes i am teaching are a lot of fun and the job on the whole is quite fulfilling. YAY! i was so worried school would start and i'd still feel bored or useless, so it is a relief that i love my job so much.
british studies class is studying the norman conquest and continuing to read beowulf. it's interesting because my students are constantly asking me why the anglo saxons fought the kelts, why the normans invaded england, why tribes fought each other. i feel like in america i wouldn't get these questions. we americans know why people fight, they fight for land, power, money etc. malians seem to be a bit baffled why someone would start a war.
my conversation class is talking about a different important global issue each week. i'm not sure what to have them discuss this saturday, but i'm sure i'll come up with something interesting before then. last week we talked about Barak Obama. my students, predictably, are in love with barak. they hate the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and they feel like america is targeting islam in those wars. they are also quite concerned about america's financial situation because they know that america's economy directly affects the world economy. we also discussed foregin aid. i think it would be interesting to have a debate on whether or not foreign aid helps or hurts developing countries. there is a lot of evidence to suggest it simply creates a dependency..... if you have any good topic ideas please let me know. this class is open to anything, we merely talk for 2 hours on whatever subject strikes me as interesting!
I am also working at a catholic youth center once a week teaching a two hour english conversation class to 15 students. most of them are young adults and older people. this is even more fun than the university because the students are so excited to learn and i have time to talk with each of them individually, unlike my 100 students per class at the university. Last week we had a rather rousing discussion on the problems that are facing Mali. They brought up poverty, bad governance, unemployment, education, the rebels in the north, and many more. bright group of folks. i look forward to hearing their opinion on several issues.
hot season is here. well, not here, but it is certainly coming. the cool mornings are no longer that cool and the days are back in the 100's. i miss 80 degrees days and 60 degree mornings already. but the good news is mango season is here! i love mangos! it's the one redeeming quality of hot season.
still counting down days til europe!
gypsy on
School is going along fine. i'm really enjoying teaching there. some of my classes have yet to start due to a problem registering freshmen....there are always problems in mali! But the classes i am teaching are a lot of fun and the job on the whole is quite fulfilling. YAY! i was so worried school would start and i'd still feel bored or useless, so it is a relief that i love my job so much.
british studies class is studying the norman conquest and continuing to read beowulf. it's interesting because my students are constantly asking me why the anglo saxons fought the kelts, why the normans invaded england, why tribes fought each other. i feel like in america i wouldn't get these questions. we americans know why people fight, they fight for land, power, money etc. malians seem to be a bit baffled why someone would start a war.
my conversation class is talking about a different important global issue each week. i'm not sure what to have them discuss this saturday, but i'm sure i'll come up with something interesting before then. last week we talked about Barak Obama. my students, predictably, are in love with barak. they hate the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and they feel like america is targeting islam in those wars. they are also quite concerned about america's financial situation because they know that america's economy directly affects the world economy. we also discussed foregin aid. i think it would be interesting to have a debate on whether or not foreign aid helps or hurts developing countries. there is a lot of evidence to suggest it simply creates a dependency..... if you have any good topic ideas please let me know. this class is open to anything, we merely talk for 2 hours on whatever subject strikes me as interesting!
I am also working at a catholic youth center once a week teaching a two hour english conversation class to 15 students. most of them are young adults and older people. this is even more fun than the university because the students are so excited to learn and i have time to talk with each of them individually, unlike my 100 students per class at the university. Last week we had a rather rousing discussion on the problems that are facing Mali. They brought up poverty, bad governance, unemployment, education, the rebels in the north, and many more. bright group of folks. i look forward to hearing their opinion on several issues.
hot season is here. well, not here, but it is certainly coming. the cool mornings are no longer that cool and the days are back in the 100's. i miss 80 degrees days and 60 degree mornings already. but the good news is mango season is here! i love mangos! it's the one redeeming quality of hot season.
still counting down days til europe!
gypsy on
Thursday, January 29, 2009
64 Days
Danielle tagged me and I'm sucker so.....
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
1. I still have a baby tooth.
2. I have to limit my peanut butter intake (i only eat natural btw) because i have a tendency to eat an entire jar with a spoon in a matter of days
3. I hate when people run their windshield wipers too fast.
4. I've never done a single illegal drug. I took my DARE pledge very seriously.
5. I like holiday themed socks and underwear A LOT
6. I can't spell. The only reason I don't have documents chock full of misspellings is because i read a lot and when i misspell something it just "looks wrong" and then i can figure it out.
7. I applied to NYU as a microbiology major and Pepperdine as an English major (ya i applied to two schools and thats it.) I ended up with the degree I have today because my parents thought NYU was really far away and I was happy to go to a school on the beach.
8. I don't like donuts, ranch dressing, mayonaise, or sour cream
9. Seriously this is only number 9? when i get married i only want a wedding band, no diamond, emerald, or anything else
10. I get scared easily. Scary movies scare me, i get scared in the car when my arm is out the window cause i imagine the car flipping over and then i'll only have one arm, I imagine falling off my bike and into the Niger when i cross the bridges, i think about planes crashing as soon as i get on one.....i think the root of all this fear is an extremely over active imagination. I deal though, and it generally doesn't affect me unless i'm sleeping in a house by myself....then i have nights when i can't sleep because along with the imagination comes a lot of dreams, some scary.
11. I really love disneyland/disneyworld. I know i shouldn't, but they make me really happy. I hate the "princess" thing and girls should not want to be flippin snow white they should want to be astronauts but there is nothing like main street holding hands with thomas. the place really is magic
12. speaking of holding hands, i love farmer's markets. holding hands and fruit go together.
13. I don't believe God has a "plan for my life" uh oh, i just scared my mom and made several people uncomfortable...sorry! hehe
14. I love traveling. not the kind where you go for a week and be a tourist, the kind where you are "in it" and live the culture. whether it's mali, italy, honduras, wyoming, maine, DC, mexico...etc. i don't just want to visit i want to live there....
15. I really really really wish i believed in reincarnation. i wanna be reincarnated.
16. I listen to This American Life every week ( i can podcast it)
17. Peace Corps is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
18. If i won the lottery i would go to school and get like 30 Bachelors degrees. Probaby a couple masters and MAYBE a PhD....mostly i like broad spectrum education though.
19. I don't like my belly button touched. I don't even touch it. Isn't that weird?
20. I "know" (i use the term loosely) seven languages. English, Spanish, Italian, Portugease, French, Hebrew, Bambara. Again....i use the word know, but it's more like I'm FAMILIAR with seven languages
21. I'm really ridiculously in love with thomas.
22. My favorite UFC fighter is George St. Pierre.
23. I love to cook and i love wearing aprons.
24. I love the zoo but i have inner conflict because i dont' think they should exist....going to the zoo is one of my vices.
25. I love to read philosophy, LOVE. Like nerdy would-rather-read-philosophy-than-go-party kind of love.
If you have a blog and you read this consider yourself tagged since i'm pretty sure less than 25 people read this lol
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
1. I still have a baby tooth.
2. I have to limit my peanut butter intake (i only eat natural btw) because i have a tendency to eat an entire jar with a spoon in a matter of days
3. I hate when people run their windshield wipers too fast.
4. I've never done a single illegal drug. I took my DARE pledge very seriously.
5. I like holiday themed socks and underwear A LOT
6. I can't spell. The only reason I don't have documents chock full of misspellings is because i read a lot and when i misspell something it just "looks wrong" and then i can figure it out.
7. I applied to NYU as a microbiology major and Pepperdine as an English major (ya i applied to two schools and thats it.) I ended up with the degree I have today because my parents thought NYU was really far away and I was happy to go to a school on the beach.
8. I don't like donuts, ranch dressing, mayonaise, or sour cream
9. Seriously this is only number 9? when i get married i only want a wedding band, no diamond, emerald, or anything else
10. I get scared easily. Scary movies scare me, i get scared in the car when my arm is out the window cause i imagine the car flipping over and then i'll only have one arm, I imagine falling off my bike and into the Niger when i cross the bridges, i think about planes crashing as soon as i get on one.....i think the root of all this fear is an extremely over active imagination. I deal though, and it generally doesn't affect me unless i'm sleeping in a house by myself....then i have nights when i can't sleep because along with the imagination comes a lot of dreams, some scary.
11. I really love disneyland/disneyworld. I know i shouldn't, but they make me really happy. I hate the "princess" thing and girls should not want to be flippin snow white they should want to be astronauts but there is nothing like main street holding hands with thomas. the place really is magic
12. speaking of holding hands, i love farmer's markets. holding hands and fruit go together.
13. I don't believe God has a "plan for my life" uh oh, i just scared my mom and made several people uncomfortable...sorry! hehe
14. I love traveling. not the kind where you go for a week and be a tourist, the kind where you are "in it" and live the culture. whether it's mali, italy, honduras, wyoming, maine, DC, mexico...etc. i don't just want to visit i want to live there....
15. I really really really wish i believed in reincarnation. i wanna be reincarnated.
16. I listen to This American Life every week ( i can podcast it)
17. Peace Corps is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
18. If i won the lottery i would go to school and get like 30 Bachelors degrees. Probaby a couple masters and MAYBE a PhD....mostly i like broad spectrum education though.
19. I don't like my belly button touched. I don't even touch it. Isn't that weird?
20. I "know" (i use the term loosely) seven languages. English, Spanish, Italian, Portugease, French, Hebrew, Bambara. Again....i use the word know, but it's more like I'm FAMILIAR with seven languages
21. I'm really ridiculously in love with thomas.
22. My favorite UFC fighter is George St. Pierre.
23. I love to cook and i love wearing aprons.
24. I love the zoo but i have inner conflict because i dont' think they should exist....going to the zoo is one of my vices.
25. I love to read philosophy, LOVE. Like nerdy would-rather-read-philosophy-than-go-party kind of love.
If you have a blog and you read this consider yourself tagged since i'm pretty sure less than 25 people read this lol
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
66 Days
66 Days til I meet my Mom, Dad, and Thomas in AMSTERDAM! WOOT! ya you heard it here first i'm actually going to see that handsome man i call mine AND my awesome parents. I'm so excited!
Classes are going well, except there are still no freshmen. But all the same my British Studies class is plowing through the material. The major problem i'm running into is that they refuse to ask questions when they don't understand. I will say
"do you know what an ox is?"
--blank stares-
"okay if you don't know a word in the text be sure and ask. An ox is similar to a cow"
-oooooo nodding heads but blank stares--
I get suspicious here and say - "Do you know what a cow is?"
--blank stares--
"I don't know the word in french, but in bambara it is Misi"
--finally they get it, and they laugh cause their white american professor knows bambara-
First they don't ask when they don't understand originally, then they don't ask when they don't understand the answer....it's an uphill battle. But it's still a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying my time with my students.
The kittens are getting big and soon at least one will be leaving the house :( I've got to call the vet and get their shots and get Phoebe fixed and maybe Gizmo (i want to keep her....) They are a lot of fun and have a grand time playing in my room every morning and evening.
Hope you are all well, go eat something good and American today and dedicate it to me :)
Gypsy on!
Classes are going well, except there are still no freshmen. But all the same my British Studies class is plowing through the material. The major problem i'm running into is that they refuse to ask questions when they don't understand. I will say
"do you know what an ox is?"
"okay if you don't know a word in the text be sure and ask. An ox is similar to a cow"
I get suspicious here and say - "Do you know what a cow is?"
"I don't know the word in french, but in bambara it is Misi"
First they don't ask when they don't understand originally, then they don't ask when they don't understand the answer....it's an uphill battle. But it's still a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying my time with my students.
The kittens are getting big and soon at least one will be leaving the house :( I've got to call the vet and get their shots and get Phoebe fixed and maybe Gizmo (i want to keep her....) They are a lot of fun and have a grand time playing in my room every morning and evening.
Hope you are all well, go eat something good and American today and dedicate it to me :)
Gypsy on!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I drew a Viking helmet for my class
Classes are off and running....as long as you aren't a freshman. Freshman are apparently still registering and that's why I no one has shown up to my freshmen classes.
My British Studies class met for the fourth time today and is going just swimmingly. We are studying the Anglo Saxons and their role in British history. Our piece of literature for the period is Beowulf. We are reading a modern translation since the language is quite difficult in the normal translations.
My student's seem to be enjoying it and have asked several good questions prompting me to draw swords, helmets with bull horns on them, and maps of europe on the blackboard. Although my artistry is poor, it seems they are really learning the material.
I love teaching :)
As for Obama's inauguration, we watched in style at the American Club and toasted the president with pizza and soft drinks (and some had beer).
I don't know if I believe in Obama's Messianic qualities espoused by the devout left, but i do know that "Hope is a good thing, perhaps the best of things" and America has some serious collective hope right now. That kind of hope can create change all by itself. I hope.
Gypsy On!
My British Studies class met for the fourth time today and is going just swimmingly. We are studying the Anglo Saxons and their role in British history. Our piece of literature for the period is Beowulf. We are reading a modern translation since the language is quite difficult in the normal translations.
My student's seem to be enjoying it and have asked several good questions prompting me to draw swords, helmets with bull horns on them, and maps of europe on the blackboard. Although my artistry is poor, it seems they are really learning the material.
I love teaching :)
As for Obama's inauguration, we watched in style at the American Club and toasted the president with pizza and soft drinks (and some had beer).
I don't know if I believe in Obama's Messianic qualities espoused by the devout left, but i do know that "Hope is a good thing, perhaps the best of things" and America has some serious collective hope right now. That kind of hope can create change all by itself. I hope.
Gypsy On!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
SCHOOLS IN! Woot!
It's been a ROUGH couple months. I was feeling really really useless over here. But school has finally started, and I'm so excited.
Classes began on Monday, but my first class met Wednesday. Usually I will have about 135 students per class (I have 5 classes). I was a little depressed when half my classes didn't show up and the other half only had about 15 people in them each. BUT...apparently this is fairly normal for the first week and I expect attendance to be up next week.
I have 3 American Studies classes, 1 British Studies class, and 1 Conversation class.
My American Studies classes will begin with exploration and end around Western Expansion. We will look at history through the lense of literature...or so is my plan.
British Studies is still kind of in the air. We were originally told to begin with the middle ages-renaissance....but that may have been a mistake, still waiting to hear. In the meantime my class has not read Beowulf, so we'll begin there.
Conversation is a wide open class. I can talk about anything at all. I may use this venue to get students talking about civil rights, women's rights, religion and government, and development.
I really hope we don't strike anytime soon......but I've already heard there are some problems on the horizon........we'll wait and see :)
In the meantime, i'm lesson planning!
Gypsy On!
It's been a ROUGH couple months. I was feeling really really useless over here. But school has finally started, and I'm so excited.
Classes began on Monday, but my first class met Wednesday. Usually I will have about 135 students per class (I have 5 classes). I was a little depressed when half my classes didn't show up and the other half only had about 15 people in them each. BUT...apparently this is fairly normal for the first week and I expect attendance to be up next week.
I have 3 American Studies classes, 1 British Studies class, and 1 Conversation class.
My American Studies classes will begin with exploration and end around Western Expansion. We will look at history through the lense of literature...or so is my plan.
British Studies is still kind of in the air. We were originally told to begin with the middle ages-renaissance....but that may have been a mistake, still waiting to hear. In the meantime my class has not read Beowulf, so we'll begin there.
Conversation is a wide open class. I can talk about anything at all. I may use this venue to get students talking about civil rights, women's rights, religion and government, and development.
I really hope we don't strike anytime soon......but I've already heard there are some problems on the horizon........we'll wait and see :)
In the meantime, i'm lesson planning!
Gypsy On!
Friday, January 16, 2009
I've got the most serious craving ever for Marrakesh in Portland.
When I get home I'm making a beeline for this.
ya ya i'm teaching, i'll tell you about it tomorrow when my first week is "officially" over ;)
gypsy on
When I get home I'm making a beeline for this.
ya ya i'm teaching, i'll tell you about it tomorrow when my first week is "officially" over ;)
gypsy on
Sunday, January 11, 2009
6 months on the nose
Can you stinking believe it? I start teaching this week. Classes start tomorrow and my first class is wednesday. I teach wed-sat, American Studies, British Lit, and Conversation.
Holy smokes i better write a lesson plan!!!!!!!!!!!
;) wish me luck.
ps if you have 2500 lying around looking for something to do....thomas needs a ticket to africa. it's not a noble cause, but it would make me very happy...wait in princess bride true love is the most noble cause of all. ;) hehe...for real though 2500 dollars to come to this hole? lame. we're working on it...
Holy smokes i better write a lesson plan!!!!!!!!!!!
;) wish me luck.
ps if you have 2500 lying around looking for something to do....thomas needs a ticket to africa. it's not a noble cause, but it would make me very happy...wait in princess bride true love is the most noble cause of all. ;) hehe...for real though 2500 dollars to come to this hole? lame. we're working on it...
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Holiday Weight?
Thomas is training on the web now. It's pretty cool...he has me on a program too. It's super affordable and he's an amazing trainer....not just cause i love him, he helped me lose 10% of my body fat BEFORE we even dated. Check it out here
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Years
The cats are getting huge! So cute. New Years Pics here
New Years was fun...for New Years. It's one of my least favorite holidays of the year. It ends the holiday "season" and it's so anti-climactic. But it was as good as I could ask for. I went with my pilot friends to their boss' house for good south african sausage (to die for) and champagne. We lit some fireworks and just had a nice relaxing evening.
In other news, Thomas sent me the BEST PACKAGE EVER! Okay sorry to everyone else that sent me one, I'm fairly biased being I'm in love with him, but still it was great. I got whipped honey, my favorite cookies, jelly beans, gummy bears, and the BEST CD EVER. It's a movie cd of his trip to portland and a few of my favorite people starred. I got to see Andrew running around the pumpkin patch, my mom laughing with thomas, and my dad wondering about with goats. Not to mention my Nathan and Kristi's beautiful shining happy faces :)
It really made my day. My month, actually...possibly even more than that. Thanks sweetheart, love you.
In other news, school might actually start. They've started registering students and I was told that perhaps in 2 weeks we'd actually begin. I'm translating that to within the month. I'm really hoping. I love climbing, playing sports, cooking and hanging out with my friends....but life seems to lack much meaning lately. Could really use a purpose.
Gypsy on!
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