the Guatemala Light Project

It was before dawn on August 10th, 2011, and all I wanted was coffee, two cups preferred. The Southwest airlines gent was more than accomodating.

As I finished my second cup, I noticed a little blurp about drinking the coffee from Southwest.

For every cup of coffee you drink on Southwest ( and it's all free coffee) Southwest donates to the non profit group, Light the Village.

Very cool, and yet another reason I love Southwest airlines.

the birth of MTV

August 1st, 1981.
I was only ten years old when MTV debuted to national audiences on the Telly. I knew nothing about the world of music, as my primary focus was playing with my army guys, making up stories about futuristic space travel with my sibling's random toys, shooting my first (and only) beebee gun at beer bottles, and floating sticks down the creek behind my parents house. Pre-pubescent, pre-adolescent fun.

I don't know if it's sad or not, but I never really got into MTV until I was eighteen. But I do remember this video, which epitomizes everything about music television to me.
Do you know who is singing the intro?

Get More: Dire Straits, Music, More Music Videos

That's right, Sting. Happy 30th MTV, you suck these days.

Hanna

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul.
these eyes of mine don't see it that way, I see
death coming towards me, and if I do not stop you
take you down, destroy you
You will destroy me, my eyes, my soul.

I want to belong to a society that welcomes me in,
but asks no questions as to why I am wanting,
needing,
searching for companionship, a lone light caressing the waves
in the empty sea.

The sharks surface, biting at my heels, wanting blood
turning everything red, bloody
dead.

Everything must return to the ground eventually.

the more you know....

I'm not a vegan, but this makes one think about our current habits and practices, doesn't it?

Words to live by....

Do, or do not. There is no try.

You must unlearn all that you have learned.

the invisible man

Sitting in a theatre by one's self isn't bad at all, depending on your perspective, or at the very least, your state of mind.

You see, some of us are invisible in plain sight. Whether by choice or not, we live in the shadows of the mainstream, around the corner from the majority.

Maybe we secretly hope that some cataclysmic event will change our future, our fortune in life, giving new energy to the cells coarsing through the bloodstream to go a different direction.

If I was invisible, truly invisible, maybe someone will see me for what I am.

Baby Boomer Generation texting

Thank goodness for modern technology. On second thought, scratch that. Replace with the thought " Thank goodness older people are learning how to use modern technology to keep their children in the loop about their health".

If you aren't a person who has an aging baby boomer parent, consider yourself lucky. but if you are ( like I am), I am glad that I get picture text messages from my Mum letting me know that all went went at the Doctor's, with a little note updating me on the procedure and her current condition.

It might sound lame, but knowing they can do this gives me comfort that they can still communicate quickly with us. ( emergency or non-emergency, like bring a salad for Sunday dinner...)

Which is a big relief and one less worry to have.

Thanks for the picture text Mum.

Black Swan

Do you know what a ballerina puts their body through to perform at a high level?

Can you imagine the pain, the focus, the pressure?

Are you comfortable with your own sexuality? One wonders what that even means.....identity, exploration, love....orgasms.....

A life pursuit of perfection can lead to a split in consciousness. If you don't know what that means, look in the mirror to see the dichotomy of your own self. Accept what you see, don't be afraid. Embrace what you are, or at least what your mind hopes for your body to be.

You reach your climax, your goal you set for yourself in life, only to find that upon reaching your expectation your soul dies, is the pursuit worth the effort?

Winter sunsets

A friend reaches out to me today

just to see how I am.

The thoughtfulness warms me

and I realize, again, the power of kindness.

At the market, I smile at the Salvation Army volunteer

as my coins drop in the familiar red bucket.

We exchange pleasantries.

An old man drops some items outside,

and a women stops to help him gather what was lost.

He is so grateful.

The winter sunsets here are magical,

as is the wonder of this time of year.

the dolphin slaughter continues....

When I first heard about what was happening in Taiji, I was appalled. I spread the word about seeing The Cove, and told anyone who would listen about things they could do to help prevent this horrible animal slaughter.

One of those things people could do was boycott going to Sea World and similiar animal parks. Under the guise of studying these creatures, the parks are supporting slaughters such as the one in Taiji.

But my ranting and raving fell on deaf ears. My own family just recently returned from a trip to San Diego, which included going to Sea World.

I tried a new approach, a silent protest. I did not go with them, did not tell my niece and nephew about my feelings about Sea World. No preaching came from me. When I saw them after they returned, I politely asked them how it was, but with a melancholy heart.

I write this now as Ric Barry has a new post up on his blog about how the killing has returned to Taiji. I hope that with constant attention to this from people such as Ric and little bloggers as myself, we can make a difference.