I had something known as "free time." Whoa. But guess what, guess what? I just got a whole bunch of neato things in the mail (STUFF!) and I went to see Ani DiFranco tonight. For free. I have begun a part-time volunteer ushering career with San Diego's Symphony Hall. I signed up 3 months ago to usher for Ani's show, thinking that everybody else would want to, too, and that I'd better be first in line. Silly me! At the time, I wasn't fully aware of the demographics among the ushering crowd. I'd guess that the average age is about 74, and your typical 74 year-old doesn't much care for Ani's guitar-hammering-poetic-cursy-political-rantress style. They were actually short of ushers tonight. This was one of the concerts that they were trying to entice more people to volunteer for by offering other more sought-after shows as a reward--you know, like Burt Bacarach! I do not know how to spell his name, and that doesn't bother me.
SO! Ani was great in person. She is one of those stellar musicians who really performs, rather than just hanging out on stage and playing music. She poses wacky questions; she tells entertaining stories; she breaks into wrenching poetry at a moment's notice; and she plays guitar with a leg-slapping, butt-wiggling, make you want to holler out loud vivaciousness. In weird tunings, too. The only other person on stage with her was a very talented guy playing stand-up bass. I love those things. And rather than another musician opening for her, she had a spoken word poet for the first act. I think his name was Buddy...Buddy something. Abby who? Argh. Well, I'll get back to you on that one. He was truly entertaining, too, although I was worried about all the old folk in the aisles blanching at his liberal uttering of the f-word.
I made some new usher friends. I danced discreetly in the aisle. I successfully avoided the creepy hall manager guy. I admired the jiggly patterns of light on the stage. I counted how many guitars Ani played (3, I think). I closed my eyes and let the music surge into my cells. I laughed. I applauded loudly. I had a splendiferous time.
Life, occasionally, is a very good thing. I needed this!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Swimming with Sharks
Yeah hey. So I had this amazing experience a week and a half ago--it already seems longer than that!--and I haven't had a lick of time to tell you all how great it was until now. I took Jesse's husband snorkeling in the middle of a bunch of sharks to distract him from the sadness of seeing her fly off to another continent for a whole year. He had never gone snorkeling before, and was just trying to get the breathing with your face in the water thing down--and I had to go make him swim with leopard sharks. IT WAS SO COOL!!
They swim into the shallows near La Jolla Shores beach to lay eggs every year--and I mean the shallows. You can stand in the water when it's only up to your mid-thigh and they will be swimming right around your feet. It's incredible. Of course, you can see them much better once you stick your face under the water. We swam a little further out toward the reef and saw the occasional spotty big fishy zipping away through the water, which was pretty thrilling, but then all of a sudden there were dozens of them underneath us. When there are a large number of them, they are much less wary of the humans floating around above them. They just swam lazily back and forth under us--dozens of them, mind you--and it was just mesmerizing, watching layers and layers of these large elegant fishes weave themselves into sinuous sharky patterns in the water. They were so close I could see the beautiful mottled pattern on their skin, and if I had stretched my fingers out another four inches, I could easily have touched them. It was hard not to yell. I was very excited. But of course, if one yells with a snorkel in one’s mouth, one will find oneself with a mouthful of blechy salt water very quickly. Bleah!
So, Kyle only inhaled a moderate amount of ocean, and everything was okay. It was better than okay. It was exhilarating! And I forgot to mention the guitar fish! As if the sharks weren't cool enough for one day, there were also several gigantimous guitar fish out there. They are basically a species of skate or ray--or are skates and rays the same thing? I truly do not know. Anyhow, guitar fish are really BIG! They were much longer than the sharks, which averaged about 5-6 feet long, I'm guessing. Guitar fish look like stretched-out rays; they have rather pointy diamond-shaped front ends that taper down to a very long back end, and are vaguely reminiscent of a guitar if you happen to have already heard that that's what they look like. At any rate, it was super cool to see them suddenly explode into existence from the sea floor beneath me and swim away. They are exactly the same color as sand, with a few slightly darker spots. Which is probably why they wait until you are directly over them and then suddenly swim away when they think you might have noticed them despite their clever camouflage. They needn't have worried... There were also several other garden-variety skatey/ray-ey things, too. Not quite as exciting as the guitar fishes, but any fishy thing swimming around in the ocean at the same time that you are is a treat.
And I didn't have a camera. I am going to try to go out again sometime in the next week or two, provided the sharks are still there, and buy an underwater disposable camera. The photos won't be anything like the slick ones you see in National Geo or anything, so don't be disappointed. The water out at La Jolla is notoriously murky; 10-foot visibility is a treat! Well, good night all. Sleep well and dream of large fishes.
They swim into the shallows near La Jolla Shores beach to lay eggs every year--and I mean the shallows. You can stand in the water when it's only up to your mid-thigh and they will be swimming right around your feet. It's incredible. Of course, you can see them much better once you stick your face under the water. We swam a little further out toward the reef and saw the occasional spotty big fishy zipping away through the water, which was pretty thrilling, but then all of a sudden there were dozens of them underneath us. When there are a large number of them, they are much less wary of the humans floating around above them. They just swam lazily back and forth under us--dozens of them, mind you--and it was just mesmerizing, watching layers and layers of these large elegant fishes weave themselves into sinuous sharky patterns in the water. They were so close I could see the beautiful mottled pattern on their skin, and if I had stretched my fingers out another four inches, I could easily have touched them. It was hard not to yell. I was very excited. But of course, if one yells with a snorkel in one’s mouth, one will find oneself with a mouthful of blechy salt water very quickly. Bleah!
So, Kyle only inhaled a moderate amount of ocean, and everything was okay. It was better than okay. It was exhilarating! And I forgot to mention the guitar fish! As if the sharks weren't cool enough for one day, there were also several gigantimous guitar fish out there. They are basically a species of skate or ray--or are skates and rays the same thing? I truly do not know. Anyhow, guitar fish are really BIG! They were much longer than the sharks, which averaged about 5-6 feet long, I'm guessing. Guitar fish look like stretched-out rays; they have rather pointy diamond-shaped front ends that taper down to a very long back end, and are vaguely reminiscent of a guitar if you happen to have already heard that that's what they look like. At any rate, it was super cool to see them suddenly explode into existence from the sea floor beneath me and swim away. They are exactly the same color as sand, with a few slightly darker spots. Which is probably why they wait until you are directly over them and then suddenly swim away when they think you might have noticed them despite their clever camouflage. They needn't have worried... There were also several other garden-variety skatey/ray-ey things, too. Not quite as exciting as the guitar fishes, but any fishy thing swimming around in the ocean at the same time that you are is a treat.
And I didn't have a camera. I am going to try to go out again sometime in the next week or two, provided the sharks are still there, and buy an underwater disposable camera. The photos won't be anything like the slick ones you see in National Geo or anything, so don't be disappointed. The water out at La Jolla is notoriously murky; 10-foot visibility is a treat! Well, good night all. Sleep well and dream of large fishes.
Friday, September 01, 2006
War, Racism, and Other Rampant Stupidity
Hello my friends. This is my second serious installment. As much as I'd like to insert my head and neck firmly into a large sand dune, I just can't keep it up when the world around me is losing its collective mind. Those of you who read real news (typically from non-U.S. sources) know a lot already about the Middle East--not just Iraq--and our involvement there. It's complex, it's ugly, and it's something that you can actually do something about. Yes!
While it is true that single-person protests don't often make the major media scene, occasionally there's a surprise. I just found out today about a disturbing incident at JFK airport a few weeks ago. Nobody died, nobody even got hurt, and there was no cursing involved. But it is indicative of a truly frightening state of affairs where people are increasingly afraid of each other--particularly those who look different, practice a different religion, or (gasp!) actually have the audacity to speak Arabic in public. Last month, Raed Jarrar was scheduled to fly out of JFK on Jet Blue Airlines. He was wearing a t-shirt that said "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT" in both Arabic and English. This shirt is part of a campaign against the current war in Iraq. Raed was approached by airport officials and forced to put on another t-shirt before he could board the plane. According to inspector Harris, one of the people detaining Raed, "You can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads 'I am a robber' and going to a bank." Yes, he really said that.
Please read the whole story here and check out Democracy Now while you're at it:
Democracy Now! transcript
or go directly to Raed's blog here (there is also a link to his blog at right):
Raed Jarrar's blog
the movement that started it all:
Artists Against the War--please check out the whole site!!!
This just in! Order a shirt here. They only ask for donations--BE GENEROUS!
Unfortunately, there is more. Amy Goodman, from Democracy Now!, reported three other incidents that were even uglier. She quoted directly from Britain's The Daily Mail: “British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny -- refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed. The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic. Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus […] minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for [another flight] in the departure lounge refused to board it [until the men speaking Arabic were taken off the plane].” The other episode reported in the Daily Mail stated that "...two British women with young children on another flight from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding." In yet another incident on an American flight, Canadian doctor Ahmed Farooq was not allowed to complete his flight because he was praying in his seat. Praying! People are just letting their fear and hatred and xenophobia get way out of hand.
You should be angry. I hope you are, even though I used no expletives or hyperbole in my post. Most of my friends and acquaintances are intelligent and caring enough to realize the larger significance of these incidents. Now, what are you going to do about it? At the very least, you can click on the above links and then order a shirt. I did. I am flying next month and I plan on wearing my "We Will Not Be Silent" shirt on the airplane both ways. Proudly. Defiantly. I wish the Arabic script were larger. On a sad and cynical note, I'm sure that I won't be detained or told to cover my shirt because I have pale skin. White people evidently aren't capable of terrorism in the eyes of our government and airline officials. Hmmmmmmmmm... Seems to me that we are committing terrorism every day we continue our misguided wars against Arabic peoples. Ask the people in Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan how they feel lately. Are they safe? Do they feel secure and happy and free to go about a normal life? I am angry. I am vehemently appalled at how far our own government has been able to advance its campaign against true freedom for its own citizens, and citizens of other countries around the world. Speak up!!!!!!!!!
While it is true that single-person protests don't often make the major media scene, occasionally there's a surprise. I just found out today about a disturbing incident at JFK airport a few weeks ago. Nobody died, nobody even got hurt, and there was no cursing involved. But it is indicative of a truly frightening state of affairs where people are increasingly afraid of each other--particularly those who look different, practice a different religion, or (gasp!) actually have the audacity to speak Arabic in public. Last month, Raed Jarrar was scheduled to fly out of JFK on Jet Blue Airlines. He was wearing a t-shirt that said "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT" in both Arabic and English. This shirt is part of a campaign against the current war in Iraq. Raed was approached by airport officials and forced to put on another t-shirt before he could board the plane. According to inspector Harris, one of the people detaining Raed, "You can't wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads 'I am a robber' and going to a bank." Yes, he really said that.
Please read the whole story here and check out Democracy Now while you're at it:
or go directly to Raed's blog here (there is also a link to his blog at right):
the movement that started it all:
Unfortunately, there is more. Amy Goodman, from Democracy Now!, reported three other incidents that were even uglier. She quoted directly from Britain's The Daily Mail: “British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny -- refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed. The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic. Passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety and demanded police action. Some stormed off the Monarch Airlines Airbus […] minutes before it was due to leave the Costa del Sol at 3am. Others waiting for [another flight] in the departure lounge refused to board it [until the men speaking Arabic were taken off the plane].” The other episode reported in the Daily Mail stated that "...two British women with young children on another flight from Spain complained about flying with a bearded Muslim even though he had been security-checked twice before boarding." In yet another incident on an American flight, Canadian doctor Ahmed Farooq was not allowed to complete his flight because he was praying in his seat. Praying! People are just letting their fear and hatred and xenophobia get way out of hand.
You should be angry. I hope you are, even though I used no expletives or hyperbole in my post. Most of my friends and acquaintances are intelligent and caring enough to realize the larger significance of these incidents. Now, what are you going to do about it? At the very least, you can click on the above links and then order a shirt. I did. I am flying next month and I plan on wearing my "We Will Not Be Silent" shirt on the airplane both ways. Proudly. Defiantly. I wish the Arabic script were larger. On a sad and cynical note, I'm sure that I won't be detained or told to cover my shirt because I have pale skin. White people evidently aren't capable of terrorism in the eyes of our government and airline officials. Hmmmmmmmmm... Seems to me that we are committing terrorism every day we continue our misguided wars against Arabic peoples. Ask the people in Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan how they feel lately. Are they safe? Do they feel secure and happy and free to go about a normal life? I am angry. I am vehemently appalled at how far our own government has been able to advance its campaign against true freedom for its own citizens, and citizens of other countries around the world. Speak up!!!!!!!!!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Mappity map map map
Hey you! Here's what you need to do: email as many friends who live on different continents as you can, and make them look at my blog. I don't even care if they read it or not. They just have to click on the link one measly little time and then it will show up on my map on the bottom of this page there. Yeah, that map! See that teeny little thumbnail thingy down there above the blog logo? Ees a very cool thing. It shows the location (as well as personally identifying information such as favorite color and underwear size) of folks who are perusing my site. How freakin' cool is that? I need you to email all your worldly pals so I can shamelessly pad the numbers of people who look at it and therefore make the map look cooler and myself feel more popular and adored. Does anybody have a friend in Greenland? That's what I'm really rooting for....or maybe somebody doing research in Antarctica...
Thanks for your patronage. I may post something reasonably informative and/or rivetingly interesting in the near future, but don't hold your breath or nuthin'.
K
ps: My interest is piqued already--apparently, 113 different people have looked at my blog since Tuesday, when I first created it. I don’t have 113 friends! What the heck? I feel validated yet slightly unnerved...
Thanks for your patronage. I may post something reasonably informative and/or rivetingly interesting in the near future, but don't hold your breath or nuthin'.
K
ps: My interest is piqued already--apparently, 113 different people have looked at my blog since Tuesday, when I first created it. I don’t have 113 friends! What the heck? I feel validated yet slightly unnerved...
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Wendy has more spleens than you
One of the biggest and bestest intentions I had with this new site o' mine was to promote PCD awareness, and I have been negligent. Melon-headed kitties sure are cool, though...
Okay, so here's the main scoop. Many of you fine folks may not be aware of this: I, along with many other wonderful and important people, have a bizarre genetic condition that is also ridiculously rare, and therefore hard to diagnose/treat/know what the heck to do about it at all. It's called PCD, which stands for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. That basically means that all of the billions and billions (think Carl Sagan) of little teeny sub-cellular sized hairlike thingies that line the lungs, sinuses, ears, and other places do not work. They are supposed to wave in a synchronized fashion to the tune of many times per second. It's a beautiful thing. They look like wheat fields in the wind, only on high speed. At least when they work.
When they don't, all kinds of havoc ensues. Mainly snot. In all seriousness, it's not an imminently fatal or life-crushing disease, but it is very not fun and it CAN have some very serious effects, particularly for the lungs. As in many older patients are getting lung transplants, and that's not a good thing. Very little is known about it thus far. I encourage all of you, I mean ALL of you, to please peruse the PCD Foundation website link to the right just there. Please.
This is all a prelude to me asking you for all your money. I will be hosting a walkathon for the PCDF in October, and I'd really like everybody who can to participate, either by becoming a walker and collecting pledges, or by pledging money to another walker. I have a lofty goal of raising at least $4,000.00. I can't do it without you all! More details on the walk will be posted here as they come up.
I have also provided links to my friend Wendy's art site and blog.Here is her wildlife art site. Her blog link is at the right. She is a fabulous artist, and even better, she has a lot of spleens. Truly. We plan on hosting some sort of deal to raise more money for the PCDF through the purchasing of her art--something like $1.00 of every print ordered going to the foundation. Please check it out and let me know if you want to buy something and we'll work out the donation details. She's a starving artist/PCD survivor so you really ought to buy something from her--maybe she'll be able to get a spleen consolidation operation or something. Thanks so much for your devotion, adoration, accolades, money, fast cars, sock puppets, chocolate...
Okay, so here's the main scoop. Many of you fine folks may not be aware of this: I, along with many other wonderful and important people, have a bizarre genetic condition that is also ridiculously rare, and therefore hard to diagnose/treat/know what the heck to do about it at all. It's called PCD, which stands for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. That basically means that all of the billions and billions (think Carl Sagan) of little teeny sub-cellular sized hairlike thingies that line the lungs, sinuses, ears, and other places do not work. They are supposed to wave in a synchronized fashion to the tune of many times per second. It's a beautiful thing. They look like wheat fields in the wind, only on high speed. At least when they work.
When they don't, all kinds of havoc ensues. Mainly snot. In all seriousness, it's not an imminently fatal or life-crushing disease, but it is very not fun and it CAN have some very serious effects, particularly for the lungs. As in many older patients are getting lung transplants, and that's not a good thing. Very little is known about it thus far. I encourage all of you, I mean ALL of you, to please peruse the PCD Foundation website link to the right just there. Please.
This is all a prelude to me asking you for all your money. I will be hosting a walkathon for the PCDF in October, and I'd really like everybody who can to participate, either by becoming a walker and collecting pledges, or by pledging money to another walker. I have a lofty goal of raising at least $4,000.00. I can't do it without you all! More details on the walk will be posted here as they come up.
I have also provided links to my friend Wendy's art site and blog.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Fruity Cat Helmets
well, hey all. I wasn't going to post today, because then I'd be one of those blogging-every-spare-moment kind of bloggers, and that might make me feel a little conflicted when I make fun of bloggers who blog a lot. Yeah, well, so what. Big deal! And furthermore I'm going to pepper my message with incomplete sentences that lack proper capitalization! WHOA! I sure know how to live on the edge. don't I?
And now, somehow, we arrive at the original point of this here posty-thing. It has come to my attention that a tragically high number of my acquaintances are unfamiliar with the following photo. Truly shocking. Please click now before it's too late!!
Melon Haid! or... Big Green Citrus-fruit Haid!
HOLY COW!!
Now that you have been educated as to the finer applications of fruity objects to feline noggins, I suggest you try this link that supplies step-by-step photos so you can learn how to make your very own fruity cat helmet. But they use a cooler name that I think is patented and therefore I durst not use it.
make your own
And now, somehow, we arrive at the original point of this here posty-thing. It has come to my attention that a tragically high number of my acquaintances are unfamiliar with the following photo. Truly shocking. Please click now before it's too late!!
HOLY COW!!
Now that you have been educated as to the finer applications of fruity objects to feline noggins, I suggest you try this link that supplies step-by-step photos so you can learn how to make your very own fruity cat helmet. But they use a cooler name that I think is patented and therefore I durst not use it.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Truly bloggy thoughts. Grammar!
Ok, so I realized last night that my entire wardrobe is almost completely composed of varying hues of red, green, and blue. Up to the rest of the world to find the significance therein. In other news, I have decided to reveal the true purpose of the birth of this blog: to inoculate the feebly punctuated internet world with a healthy dose of capital letters and well-placed apostrophes. And complete sentences! (that was a test) Truly, the state of syntax these days is beyond deplorable. I have recently acquired a copy of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" and I plan to proselytize from its pages with annoying regularity. Be thankful I'm too tired right now to choose a worthy passage.
In all seriousness, you can look forward to grammartorial snippets and how-tos, as well as exciting words of the day and other nerdyness that you would expect from someone who considers the OED to be the most exciting Christmas present ever received. YEEEEEEEEEEE HA!
I still reserve the right to make up my own words as long as they follow the basic rules of the English language. It's my blog and I can invent if I want to. !
and don't worry, there will still be cartoons...yay for cartoons!
~~snore~~
In all seriousness, you can look forward to grammartorial snippets and how-tos, as well as exciting words of the day and other nerdyness that you would expect from someone who considers the OED to be the most exciting Christmas present ever received. YEEEEEEEEEEE HA!
I still reserve the right to make up my own words as long as they follow the basic rules of the English language. It's my blog and I can invent if I want to. !
and don't worry, there will still be cartoons...yay for cartoons!
~~snore~~
argh
Hey there! I've got no time to waste on frivolity and extracurricular luxuries, so it must be time for me to finally start writing one of these bloggy thingies. Here it is!
Yeah, well, it will get better. Perhaps. Pictures, links, and stupid cartoons galore are looming on the fuzzy horizon. Amidst the raisins.
K
Yeah, well, it will get better. Perhaps. Pictures, links, and stupid cartoons galore are looming on the fuzzy horizon. Amidst the raisins.
K
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