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| A mixed bag |
| 03.07.05 (11:25 am) [edit] |
What a mixed bag of students I have... here's the run down, an Italian nun a Hungarian Stripper, an Argentian Fashion Designer who one day wants to be the President of Argentina, a Russian NYC Ballerina, a Korean Ajuma, a Japanese buisness man who wanted to know about Marijuana... just to name a few... sometimes I feel like I'm a therapist with private clients... my job is interesting.
Next stop the Empire State building on the 63rd floor, I'll watch the lights fall on Manhattan each night in my international room. this time I'll have my own desk!
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| The Messanger woman to the unzipped. |
| 02.24.05 (7:15 pm) [edit] |
I was riding the subway home from work this evening. Snow was falling outside, blanketing the city once again as I crossed over the Manhattan bridge. Sitting next to me was a woman who happened to notice the women next to her had her fly unzipped. So she kindly tells her. The unzipped women replied with a laugh of embarrassment "oh my god!' And the other woman said she would want someone to do the same. I was then reminded of all the times my fly was unzipped and I walked around in Public as a matter of fact, a few days ago there was a slight breeze in a spot where there shouldn't be one! and another time I was teaching and my ESL student drew a diagram of my pants to show me that my fly was unzipped. How embarassing! would you want someone to do the same? even a complete stranger?
So as I'm riding on this Q train I open my book and try to read, but can't help and over hear the conversation next to me. THe messenger woman has just come from a ceramics class and is showing the other women what she made. She then talks about a turtle shell she has caste in Metal and made into a purse... strange... so I continue trying to read my book as the Messenger women then talks about her pets... how she has to feed her cat 6 pills because it has diarrhea... yada yada yada... she then talks about her pet sugargilder who has died and had taxedermied... at that moment the word taxidermy word appears in my book... how strange... isn't it funny when your reading and someone unconnected to you says the word you're reading... I don't know maybe this isn't interesting... but it seems to happen a lot to me. i like noticing things like this.
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| What's this year gonna bring? |
| 01.14.05 (10:38 am) [edit] |
It's been a wild year.hurricanes, a devasting Tsunami, an election the world was watching and then crying over, and the Red Sox won the World Series. I'm going to begin this blog about the Tsunami in SE Asia, i couldn have said it better then to quote a friend "I guess one of the byproducts of travelling earlier this year is that the news becomes more intimate. These are people and places you've visited not too long ago, ... "
I must say that 2004 had been a year of adventure for me... what a wild world it is out there! a year I've been dreaming of for a long time... I've been kicking up dust wherever I go but now have settled back into New York life (for now). Carpe Diem! wahoooooooo!!!!
THanks to all I've met along the way. I'm not even sure who reads this thing anymore... but it was a great way to share my travels for those of you with an interest in what I do.
AS for my New Years... it was spent in simplicity... no electricity, no running water, but a fire to warm the winter days in a place across the cold Atlantic... a step back into time... with the snow outside blowing sideways drinking wine to make the cheeks rosey. Good people, good food and good wine! Skall! I hope this year is good one for you all. Drop me a line if it's been far too long.
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| SNOW! |
| 12.20.04 (8:33 am) [edit] |
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We had the first snowfall of the season... It's so beautiful at night when you walk outside from the warmth of the inside and you watch it fall between the tall buildings! beautyeee ful! but coooooold!
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| ;) |
| 12.10.04 (7:48 am) [edit] |
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Hi. I helped a student write a love letter yesterday. She screamed with excitement each time I wrote the words she was trying to get across in English... oh my job is fun ;)
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| too much time. |
| 11.29.04 (8:35 am) [edit] |
"Sometimes there is so much beauty in this world that it makes me want to cry," as stated in the movie "American Beauty." even in the things most people don't find beautiful... if it evokes something inside you... i wonder how many other people see this too... sometimes it makes me feel alone. I can't explain it to other people, I wonder if they feel as much. sometimes it's almost a burden... but I love feeling something... even if it's pain. it's like in American Beauty when the neighborhood outcaste watches the platic bag blowing in the wind... even in death... when we burried my cat ironically covered in a plastic bag, because my mother didnt' want the dirt to touch his gray fur. we burried him behind the house I grew up in.... He was put in a basket my mother used to store her sewing materials in. She left my sister and I to bury him in the sandy dirt, because she was to sad. His claw was stuck to the towel we laid out for him... I hope he didn't have a struggle.
I had a kind of revelation about death I suppose... It seems like animals know when there time is up, My cat's sister had gone into woods and met her death... but are they afraid when they die, or do they just accept it because they have no concept of it? Humans think so much about death as such a frightning thing... very few are not afriad. For the first time, I saw death as a cycle and not an end to a straight line. I found some comfort in this.
You know how there are certain people who even though they have been gone for years still seem very much alive... there character was so strong. you can still remember there voice even if you have no recording of it. imagine there scent, and it feels like you talked them yesterday. I remember my mother saying something once when I asked her about death. "People live on everytime you remember them" true, true... It even pertains to people I've lost along the way, perhaps old friends or people you met along the way, that you loose track of. oh... I've too much time to think. but I like it... too much time is a good thing.
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| Your brain pathways are different than the average person. |
| 11.29.04 (7:40 am) [edit] |
Julie's Personality Summary
Extroversion
You are reflective, observant and self-sufficient. Your social style varies: You are sometimes very talkative and outgoing, sometimes rather shy and withdrawn. Your brain pathways are different than the average person. This is a unique, valuable characteristic.
Emotionality
You react easily to emotional situations, yet take a balanced stand in dealing with stress. You sometimes feel emotions that come from nowhere ('out of the blue').
Thoroughness
You can focus very well on tasks that interest you, but tend to be easily distracted with those that do not. This is a disadvantage in some aspects, but a virtue in others - for the things you like, you are very enthusiastic.
Openness
You require variety. You appreciate the comfort that comes with some routines, yet you continually crave the novelty and excitement that comes with change. In this trait, you are different than the average man and the average woman in your culture.
Agreeableness
You care a lot about what other people feel and think. You sometimes modify your behavior to protect the feelings of others. Still, you realize that it is not possible to please everyone. You have found a good balance point.
Sensing vs. Intuiting
What kind of information do you pay most attention to? You are most attracted to patterns, connections between facts, and information that can be inferred - rather than the information that is obvious and solid. You like to speculate and daydream. Your brain is always in motion.
Thinking vs. Feeling
How do you make decisions? You base your conclusions on what 'feels' most right or wrong - a 'gut level' response rather than a purely logical, rational process. You trust your instincts.
Judging vs. Perceiving
In what kind of environment are you most comfortable? You prefer a flexible, open-ended environment over a structured, stable environment. You enjoy having options and surprises.
www.personalityreport.com
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| hibernation |
| 11.29.04 (5:25 am) [edit] |
I'm feeling the urge for some hibernation in the coming winter months.
My cat Harlold died on thanksgiving. He was 18 years old.
We arrived home from CT across the Long Island Sound and he had already gone. We knew it would happen, but there is always a period of grief for a beloved pet. We buried him in the back yard next to two trees... his sister had disappeared a few months back somewhere in the woods... RIP Harry.
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| A long walk to the west side. |
| 11.10.04 (10:23 am) [edit] |
I took a long walk today. The air was cold enough to see my breath. there is something about the crispness of the cold that makes everything feel cleaner and more invigorating... I just walked and crossed the street whenever a crosswalk light allowed me too, and ended up on the west side next to the Hudson river...
Looking at the skyline of the city is such a different perspective then from walking through it's arteries ... you see the "big picture"... it's like looking at a painting... But walking the streets you become part of it's life.
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| Some Anonymity |
| 11.05.04 (5:36 am) [edit] |
I'm listening to the song "Helpless" by Neil Young and I can't help but think how I want to see a country that hasn't been touched by US influence or "western culture" or can you imagine... would ask me "where is the United States " to have some anonymity in this world... to not be associated with such a superpower... that's not what I stand for... what would it be like to be from a place that most people like... that hasn't caused such great distruction around the world s... even the far reaches of the world seem to have been affected by the US in someway even if it'
s it's just knowing who we are... even NOrth Korea, who wants to keep western influence out has a leader who's favorite movie is "Titanic"
but then I think the world would be boring place without the USA. as someone else has put it.
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| Don't Despair, Act, from Margaret Cho |
| 11.03.04 (10:36 am) [edit] |
OK, after clearing the air and getting rid of the crap spewing from my mouth.... here is something optimistic... I feel the need to share from Margaret Cho
***begin quoted text***
return to Margaret Cho's Blog
11/3/2004
Don't Despair, Act
I know that we would like to question the whole of democracy. I can't
believe Bush won either, but there isn't time to despair. What is
needed now is action, not hopelessness. What is important is that there has
been tremendous progress in mobilizing people to create change. Remember,
more voters turned out this year than in the last three decades. Although
it might be said that we can't expect change overnight, there really was
a very rapid shift in the way we view politics. We have become unafraid
of voicing our opinions, using our power, pooling our resources, and
allowing our differences to aid us instead of keeping us apart.
These new ways of looking at ourselves politically redefine what it
means to be an American. It takes what used to be a very passive identity
and turned us all into revolutionaries. In a short time, we activated
activism, something that lay dormant in many of us and had not been
awakened until now.
The Bush administration will be sorry they won this battle, for they
now look forward to losing the war. Ultimately, a government cannot defeat
its people, no matter how much power they assume or how corrupt they are.
Even though today feels like a defeat, there is no loss. There is only
opportunity. Now we have the chance to challenge everything, fight
everything. The possibilities are tremendous. All the polls, all the
posturing, all the opinions that we endured during months leading up
to the election provide us with a valuable education on how we think and
act as a country.
There are a huge number of us that are on the same side. We had no
idea how many of us there were before. We constitute roughly half of the
nation, probably more. If we refuse to concede to apathy, then we can roll
up our sleeves and get dirty. This is merely the third act break, when
it seems like our hero is down for the count, but it just isn't possible,
because there is still half an hour to go before the movie ends. We
have a lot more of our story left to tell. We need to wipe the blood off our
lip and get up again for the last time.
My friend years ago had this joke, where he was talking about how he'd
tell his girlfriend that he thought she was being a bitch, to which
she'd reply - "Oh you'll KNOW when I'm being a bitch." Republicans don't
even know how nasty we can be. You think people are pissed off today, just
wait until the inauguration. Can you imagine all the boos and jeers during
Brooks & Dunn's set? Just the radical uncoolness of their musicians
compared to Democratic rock stars is fairly awesome to consider.
Brooks & Dunn vs. Pearl Jam. Charlie Daniels going toe to toe with Bruce
Springsteen. Leann Womack against Moby. Britney Spears facing off the
entire Hip Hop Summit. If it wasn't so ridiculously sad, it would be
funny. If 'these colors' don't run now, they will soon.
I think Bush is probably really scared, if he is smart enough to be.
He should be, because he has an enormously difficult task in front of
him. There is no way he will regain public popularity. All he can manage to
do is not fuck up too badly, which will probably prove to be impossible,
as he is the rare maestro of the fuck up. Look at it this way. We might
have some fun. Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those
who think. It is vital to mourn for the victims of this government but not
at the expense of losing our sense of humor. Our ability to laugh
coincides directly with our ability to fight. If we can make fun of it, we can
transcend it. Just imagine the incredible storm of shit that Bush will
have to endure. It will make Hurricane Jean look like a humidifier.
The polarizing of the population has been a wondrous gift to debate, and
we are more politicized and aware than ever before. With all this caution
and attention focused on our 'elected' officials, we have a moment where
we can grasp the brass ring of self-government. In the immortal words of
DMX, "They don't know, who we be." but they will, and they will be sorry.
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| I've overdosed on America... I feel sick. |
| 11.03.04 (8:28 am) [edit] |
As I'm sitting here typing this blog, I 'm punching the keys harder then I ever have before. The people in the next apartment can probably here my typing away!
I have this inccredible urge to leave... to leave this country again... I don't want to have to listen to that fucking idiot for another 4 years. but I also don't want to sit back and let the Republicans take control of everything... no wait .... that's already happened because how else would BUSH WIN AGAIN!!!!??? We are moving into the dark ages of America... we are moving farther away from our allies... we are moving farther away from out freedom, we are moving farther away from any kind of resolution, How can you call America the land of the free, when I don't feel free in my own country?
I'm moving farther away from this country. I am in utter disbelief that I have to go through another 4 years with a C student as a president, smirking at us with his sidekick "Mr.Burns" EVIL!!!
I think I've overdosed on America... I am now afraid of what's to come... not like much will change anyways... that's the scary thing... no change. isn't that what this so called "axis of evil" wants... for us to live in fear... maybe we should include our own country in this axis. "axis of evil", what the fuck is that?!...
anyways I'm going to take a break from all of this... a break from America... it was nice for 6 months to not watch American news. ... what a refreshing thing... I'm now turning off my television in my silent act of refusing to be brainwashed... like the rest of the robots who voted for the puppet.
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| Why? |
| 11.03.04 (7:33 am) [edit] |
WHY?!
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| this blog... |
| 10.30.04 (3:35 pm) [edit] |
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this blog is becoming a political rant and Movie recommendation! how funny!
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| Iceland on my mind. |
| 10.30.04 (3:34 pm) [edit] |
I watched another movie I recommend, if your into the unhollywood. This is an Icelandic film titled, "Noi Albino" It's the story of a genuis boy living in a small fishing village in Iceland next to a fjord.
He's an outcaste physically and mentally. He meets a girl from the Southern part of Iceland visitng her father and together they plan to escape. The movie is timeless, yet at the same time nostalgic. The director uses toys from the 70's and 80's like the rubic cube, simple in form, minimal, like the landscape, but at the same time complex.
The Landscape it beautiful... it reminded me of my 2 trips there... the first time was the summer I was 15 on our way to Germany, and the second time was in college at the end of Feb (our Spring break). People thought we were crazy going to Iceland for Spring break... but i'd much rather go there then Cancun!
I remember in the summer how the sun didn't set until 11:30 at night. I remember blood pudding. I remember the way the Icelandic people roll there R's in a whispery way. There was something magical and strange about this place. THere is only one forest in Iceland! The landscape is volcanic and bare, very moon-like.. windswept from the North Atlantic and bubbling with sulfur hot springs... I can see why people believe in "little people"here.
The second time I returned to Iceland was without parents... in the winter. The weather was schizo, it couldn't make up it's mind. One moment there'd be a whiteout, the next moment the sun would appear, then freezing rain... strange... and then there is the blue lagoon...... a geothermal pool of glowing blue water and theraputic earthen clay to soak your body. The water had a hard boiled egg smell, and my hair turned to straw... but the place was surreal and I didnt care about my hair.
I remember how the snow started to fall from the gray Icelandic clouds and fall on our noses... the winter quite... the land seemed silent when the snow begins to fall melting on the blue lagoon. I lay in the hot water looking up at the falling snow... something I'll never forget...
That and the ride to the airport in the rental car at 5am in the morning! A whiteout, the sky is still dark. and the only people on the road are driving monstor trucks which whiz passed us blowing up the whirling snow... I can't see a thing, and my knuckles are white from my tight grip. On one side of the road is the wild ocean, and the other, the barren landscape of snow and Ice... nothingness, an empty space playing tricks on my vision, and straight ahead 2 white headlights of the monster trucks zooming past us. Everytime a monstor would pass I'd breath a sigh of relief when it was over.
hmmmmm, Iceland is one of my favorite places though... watch this movie... it's about the effect of Isolation and what it does to people. It is beautful to watch.
For me Iceland is a place i'd ike to return again and see some more of, I feel I've only scratched the surface, i want to see if i can find one of those little people ;) kikikikikiki
oh yeah... another movie to watch also filmed in Iceland is "Cold Fever", about a Japanese man on a journey to bury his parents... it's a roadtrip movie filled with interesting characters...
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| From the Girl Over in the Big Bad Western World. |
| 10.30.04 (8:47 am) [edit] |
THis is my reaction to the Osama Bin Laden tape recently released. Only a portion of it was shown on American TV.
It's frightening to think that Osama Bin Laden is more Intelligent then our own leader.
This is a message to all of us as Americans, but we as American people have to look for the truth in other places, on the internet... because our news is so biased, and fear oriented that it produced brainwashed people into also believing that we should attack other countries killing women and children to preserve our own fucking freedom!!! What the fuck! I'm ashamed at times, I want to throw something at the televsion, but wait... that might be an act of terrorisM!!!! aughhhhhh!!! I wish people would OPEN their EYES!!!! Our safety is on our own hands! Bush or Kerry only feed us the words they think we want to hear (most polititions for that matter)... what ever happened to the truth, sometimes admiting a mistake is more powerful then pretending to have power! Things don't have to be so complicated... can you imagine what could happen with a little truth!?
I can't believe the elections are only 4 days away... and I applied for an absentee ballot twice and still haven't gotten one! it must be some kind of conspiracy. the whole american government is... rarrrr!!! just ranting, phew, feels good!
RAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOORRRRRR !!!!
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| I watched the blood moon last night. |
| 10.28.04 (5:04 am) [edit] |
The curse was lifted and the Red Sox won a world series after 80-someodd years, maybe it was the "blood moon?" "Blood moon" what the hell is that?
I was feeling a bit out of control last night, not sure why i felt this way, when I looked up to the full moon, ahhhhhh so!
I went up to the roof of our apartment in Brooklyn with Justin and Kristin to watch the full moon turn red from the shadow of the earth, an eclipse! The three of us lay on the roof looking up and interpreting the shape of the moon and what we each saw with our astigmitism eyes, Justin saw a baby chick in the moon, I saw a jacko-lantern, kristin saw rays of light sprouting from the top of the moon. We heard other voices around us as other people in Brooklyn had the same idea to watch the metamorphosis of the moon. I felt compelled to howel at the moon and did so, Justin and kristin following suit. Only a lone dog howeled back. We sang songs of "Harvest Moons" Major Tom, SPacecowboys and such... and watched the airplanes from JFK fly into the moon, casting a spacey illusion of us "sitting floating in a tin can far above the earth, planet earth below"
I even got a rare site in the orange night sky glow of New York... a shooting star swept across the sky, truely from some other galaxy, out of this world during the blood moon night! only I forgot to make a wish, at the unexpected sight.
Later inside i heard my phone ring at midnight just after the red Sox's won. It was my sister, she was crying... she's moving out of Boston after 8 years... what a way to leave! A celebration in the Streets of the Red SOx Victory, and her celebration of 8 years in Boston... yeah but now she's coming to NYC!
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| What do you think of AMerica? |
| 10.25.04 (3:12 pm) [edit] |
Since returning from my trip I've been thinking of my role as an American in this world, I guess that's pretty big thing since I'm only a small human being from Long Island in this enormous world. I've been home for nearly three months now, and i'm still not used to being surrounded by so many of us from the US. I guess that's why New York is a good place to be for me. because it's something else, a capsule of the world.
There are days when it feels great to be back... and then there are moments where i wish I lived in a place that wasn't in the spotlight all the time. This place... where people love to hate, where I have such a love hate relationship with, where I'm embarrased by what our government does, but proud of some of the music which it produces. There are certain aspects of it which i missed when i was away... which included my family, New York, the music...
I didn't miss the ignorance. hmmmmm... I've thought what it would be like to be an expat, an American living overseas but relized I'll always be an "American" wherever i live. Even if my blood consists of German, Irish, French, Welsh, Dutch, Polish... I'll still be classified as a "white American" My Japanese student looked at me in surprise when I told where my ancestors came from. yep, that's what happens here...
I wish more American's would travel so people would stop telling me that only 12% of the American population has passports! THat's fucking embarrasing.
I wonder if this feeling will go away... I'm not sure it will.
Here is an article from BBC News.
"What do you think of America?"
Land of the free, home of junk food, or global policeman: What do you think of America?
The USA's role in the world was discussed in a unique global television debate hosted by the BBC.
The debate revealed the results of a ground-breaking, international survey of attitudes that will capture popular prejudices and convictions about America.
Under discussion was America's relations with other countries post-September 11, the country's cultural legacy and what the future holds for the world's only superpower.
The programme also revealed that News Online readers voted Homer Simpson as the Greatest American in history.
What do you think of America? Who is the greatest American? What is the USA's best, and worst, contribution to the world?
(taken from BBC)
here are some excerpts of comments on America from BBC news...
With so much of the world living in poverty, under the shadow of autocratic governments, it is easy to see why America is the target of so much hate. Jealousy is a powerful emotion.
LP, Egham, UK
America, we are told, is a country that was founded on freedom yet it was founded on mass slavery. America is a country where we are told free speech is valued yet when people speak out against the recent war they are vivified, fired or even attacked. America is thought of as rich yet many millions of its citizens live way below the poverty line, and we simply don't care. America is a country where racism is alive and well. America is a country of basically decent people who allow themselves to believe in a fantasy worthy of Disney rather than change things for the better.
Mike Peterson, Spain (Ex-USA)
Everyone loves to hate the winner if they are not a part of the same team. It is amazing how many NY Yankee hats you see on people's heads no matter what country you are in. Perhaps the bitterness needs to end and everyone should learn from American perseverance. Americans aren't perfect but neither is anyone else. Anyone that thinks Americans are too aggressive might want to consider the fact that it has only taken 200 plus years of existence to get where they are as a superpower. I say hats-off this July 4th and a pat on the back.
Mike, UK
Nice place, shame about the guns.
Joe Horvath, Australia
America as a country is representative of many western nations whose only knowledge of the rest of the world is TV.I don't blame 'em but surely they are missing a lot. I wish they'd care to listen, travel and see the rest of the world.
Lawrence gwakisa, Tanzania
America is a land of the brain washed public who can see no wrong in what is done in their name. If only the American people can look around and see that they need the world more then the world needs them.
Abdul, Egypt
There's an old Japanese expression that says; "the nail that stands up gets knocked down." Since the Soviet Union collapsed the USA has been the country that stands up and sticks out the most, as such we have become a scapegoat for people to vent their frustrations and blame their problems on.
Bill Grant, USA
85% of Americans do not have a registered passport. For my US readers, this means 85% of Americans have never left the 'homeland'. Is there anything else to say?
Koko, Canada
We may not be perfect in the world's eye, but I am sick and tired of everyone in the world bashing us. You need us more than we need you. As far as I'm concerned. I hope we go back to isolationism.
Marie, USA
I think calling McDonalds representative of our food and Jerry Springer of our common discourse is grossly inaccurate. Would it be fair to assume all Brits eat fish'n'chips and act like Patsy and Edina? Surely not.
Andy, USA
What strikes me is how the most powerful country in the world, with all its resources and wealth manages to breed such an ignorant people. They know very little about the world beyond their shores, despite the fact that their collective heritage is derived from all over the world. Power breeds arrogance no doubt. Yet arrogance combined with ignorance is fatal.
Michele, Singapore
America is a dream country for many people in Africa. What makes me angry is the same people who wait at the gate of the American embassy to get a visa complain how they hate America. So why do they want to go there? It is not right to Love its resources and hate its policies at the same time. You have to choose one. Either be in America and abide by the rules and regulations or don't dream to go there.
But still they dream to be there because it is the only country where you can earn your bread without fear of any thing. How can any one hate the land of opportunity? We have to also understand America like any other Nation which has its own programme and objectives that it wants to see in the world in line with its National advantage. So what is the problem with that?? Any way, I love America and Americans.
Neftegnaw, Ethiopia
I certainly do not envy Americans. I mean who would like to be that fat!
Laurent, France
Love it when I'm there, scared of it when here - so naive they should keep out of foreign politics
Marilyn Cameron, UK
The reason we are criticized is not due to envy, it is because we represent a dream, a dream the rest of the world admires and that dream is slipping away. We are seen as the child who had huge promise but is too self-absorbed to preserve and nurture the freedom given us by our forefathers.
Ingrid Seel, USA
Having just moved to America, from the UK I have seen how unaware the US is of politics, it's view on the war is frequently based on the 9/11 attack. This is frightening. Bush has brainwashed them.
Martine Harvey, America
I love America - the world would be boring without it.
Dack, Venezuela
A superpower that one day will destroy itself like all the superpowers before them.
Adi, Malaysia
I have the highest respect possible for the United States and everything they have done and stand for. They are the greatest nation since the Roman Empire. I love Italy and I will ALWAYS be thankful to the US for liberating the country in WW2.
Sid, Italy
We hate your diets, but we love McDonalds. We think your greedy and selfish, but we'll take money from the largest aid donor in the world. We don't want you to police the world, we just want to pick and choose where we send your military. We deplore your culture, but we love your movies and are becoming more and more like you everyday. We think you're stupid, but we will continually seek out your universities. We think your arrogant, that's why we plead for your tourism. We hate all that America stands for, because you are the land of the free and have a Democracy and Economy, the likes of which the world has never seen. We secretly want to be you America, that's why we hate you.
Jay, Earth
anyway... I just wanted to post this up as a reminder.
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| Eternal Sunshine. |
| 10.17.04 (7:25 pm) [edit] |
Some more 6 degrees of seperation. It' s been a great week... a friend of mine I met in Japan was here on an extended visit. Saturday was the best... I kept thinking there was a full moon in the house, everything seemed in sink. something in the atmosphere... not sure what is was... but I met some great people and my traveling high or whatever it is... continued on... through the international festival of people representing other nations and languages in Jersey City! A new Place in New York I haven't explored!.. all under one roof complete with a parade and story hour around a fire ( well a make-believe one)... meeting for the first time or time and time again...
it's funny how if you didn't meet this one person, how you wouldn't have meet others... and the situtiation you find yourself in wouldn't have happened if you weren't at the same place at the same time... I love that! everything seemed to work out in the end even my Japanese student Akiko found someone she cold speak Japanese and English with. She was even exposed to Marijuana for the first time. "Welcome to NEW YoRK!" well it was a good situation... that's all I'll saY :)
Thanks peeps! I was getting a bit down and this has been a pick me up... feeling in tune again. feeling content at the moment. like I'm in a movie and I'm in it this time, instead of watching lt like an audience member. did see a crap movie though..."friday night lights" just for kicks... there's so much more to write but for now... that's a rap.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" i did see and do see if you have not!
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| Chinese fortune |
| 10.15.04 (11:10 am) [edit] |
my chinese fortune said... "be careful when you walk alone in the darkness..." yikes!! what the *(#$!#!
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| If you've got something to say Comment! |
| 10.12.04 (12:49 pm) [edit] |
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If your reading my blog and you've got something to say comment! I want to hear from you! that''s what it's there for! I know you people are reading it... =) all the more apprecitated. I share. you share.
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| A late night ride on the N train |
| 10.12.04 (11:22 am) [edit] |
It was late on a Saturday night or early on a sunday morning whichever way you look at it. I was riding the N train home after a night our in Williamsburg. I was a little drunk and tired and was about to put my head phones on and zone out when i sensed someone next to me. He was sitting across from me and then moved to sit beside me.
"I really like your shoes" he said. I held my heaphones in my hands about to put them on... not sure if I felt like talking to a stranger... and turned to him and thanked him. I've never started a conversation starting with shoes... so I decieded I wanted to see where it would go... and besides how often to strangers actually talk to one another on the subway... most people close their eyes... plug their ears with music or stare at the walls... I often look at peoples shoes on the subway. I think they say alot about someone.
"they're a really nice shade of green".
"thanks"
Then we went into the usual where are you from... blah blah stuff. He's from Brooklyn, had lived his whole life there and was sick of New York.
"I've just returned to New York." i told him.
"I want to get out of this place." he said
"you need to get out' I said. "It's a whole lot easier then you think"
I told him how amazing NEw York is... but you need to leave it to appreciate it again otherwise you will hate it.
then he proceeded to compliment my accent " a perfect American one" " WHAT!!!" no hint of Long Island in there.
and my eyes... Yes yes... they match my green shoes... and even my fake diamond nose ring. stop stop stop!! ok maybe i did like the admiration part. who doesn't if it's someone you don't mind chatting with...
we talked the whole sunway ride about everything... the trip flew instead of being an endless late night mission. I felt like i was traveling again... meeting a fellow person in life at a moment in time... when I thought I'd be bored on the subway... staring at peoples shoes... I wish i noticed what he was wearing... oh well...
he wanted my number... but instead I gave him my email... who knows what's next, but... I was just happy to have met a stranger on the subway connecting at our transfer stops on the N train.
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| "If you see a suspicious package, please report it to police." |
| 10.08.04 (10:51 am) [edit] |
Ok Nick, you've inspired me to include some of my writing in my blogging. Subway rides are cool, especially when they come up above the ground. here's a lil ditty about one too.
"If you see a suspicious package, please report it to the police."
Next stop is Canal street"
it's part of everyday now.
everything's a suspect without an owner.
across the aisle I look at my suspects with curiosity
A young man orchestrates music in his head
a music stand by his feet.
a girl adjusts her make-up in a mirror.
a man sleeps under his shades.
And I see my face in the reflection of the window.
do you ever watch other people through the window reflections?
Up above the ground we go
in the basking light.
our transport stops on a postal service note
in the middle of the river
the sun reflecting the metal mountains
boats passing underneath
leaving their trail behind.
transporting to other waterways.
cars pass beside us moving people indpendantly in their bubbles.
we move slower then the cars,
heading back underground once again we go,
after our breath of sun
I catch splashes of writing from the underground,
where some people call their home.
living like moles.
2 stops ahead I go.
the doors open and i exit up to the street.
People walking past on the pavement
tranporting their bodies.
stopping in the square next to a tree.
a man sits next to me
I can smell his unwashed clothes.
a rotten fruit once sweet to smell.
he smiles
and I can't hear anything except the sound of my music,
but I can see everything quite perfectly...
in this kind of light.
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| Che |
| 10.05.04 (12:33 pm) [edit] |
Ok this journal is turning into a movie recommendations... but I must recommend this movie!!
"The Motorcycle Diaries"
"When traveling there are 2 paths...
one of nostalgia for home.
and one for the adventure which lies ahead"
so true, so true.
Here is an interview with the screen writer Jose' Rivera.
The making of the "Motorcycle Diaries", from the start had been a labor of love. In many ways, you could describe this film as a lucid love letter to South America. You can see it in Gael Garcia's eyes as he survey's the gorgeous and wounded landscape. You can see it in Rodrigo de la Serna's charm and Mia Maestro's anguish -- in the quiet humanity of the lepers in San Pablo. You can hear it in the score and see it in every one of Walter Salle's beautiful shots.
The challenges to writing the screenplay were many. How do you begin to approach an iconic figure like Ernesto Guevara? How do y ou humanize the myth?
How do you honor the memory and serve history? how do you give his companion Alberto Granado equal weight? How do you capture the inner geography of a boy turning into a man?
How do you capture that flickering pre- 1960's Latin America, poised, it seems, between centuries? How do you capture the mind-boggling variety of faces, temperaments, cultures, races and voices?
Ernesto Guevera once wrote that a true revolutionary was guided by great feeling of love. Ulitmately a writer's greatest and most singular gift to any film is his or her love for the themes and people of a project at hand. I was lucky. Writing the screenplay and balancing it's many demands only required a lot of hard work -- lending my love to the stories of young Ernesto Guevera and Alberto Granado was easy.
Jose Rivera, Los Angelea
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| Mood enchancer |
| 10.04.04 (1:15 pm) [edit] |
My travel high is dying, I knew it would eventually, but when.. I didn't know. Two months is a long time to still be there... if you know what I mean. Now i'm trying to find my place here back in the motherland of refugees. I officially haven't worked in 10 months and haven't paid American taxes is 2 years! because I haven't been making American money! I'm proud to say... I haven't contributed moneywise to much of this mess our current leader has put us through... but I most def will contribute to this years election!
anyways...
Here is a little something I wrote while listening to the "Lost in Translation" soundtrack awhile ago.
City girl... and I love you. don't go city boy.
why are there no guitars to make music and fly away?
an endless mission
somewhere in my head,
its' full.
birds fly with kite strings
and cats prowl in alley's purring,
with mischevious eyes
ready to pounce on it's prey.
and sad orchestra's make you feel a mood
it's purpose of being a
mood enchancer on a full stomach and full head.
we have to make up for our lost time
gain new time,
like daylight saving time
where only certain places accept this.
when all you have is a memory
and you want to watch a movie of it
replay your favorite parts
put a soundtrack to it when you wake in the morning.
in a different language,
lost in a word...
a machine making a sound or a noise from far away
a landscape sound which only sounds perfect in it's place
and foreign in another.
Something beautiful
a finger print of your soul
building a mountain to grow from
nothing...
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