January 29, 2008

It's a Scary, Scary World Out There

So my niece plays hockey on a guy's team and a girl's team. The coach for the guy's team has recently been texting and IMing her on a regular basis; even while he's at work. She's 17, he's in his 40s with a wife and kids. Doesn't this sound like the beginning of an After School Special to you? (Do they even do those anymore?)
My sister is really great with her daughters and had a talk with my niece about how her coach's behavior is inappropriate. My niece said "okay" and that she'd tell him that her parents didn't want him doing that anymore. When I talked to my sister, I suggested she make a formal visit to see him. Just so he knows that she's aware of what's going on and that she's watching him.
It is for reasons exactly like this that I second-guess the thought of ever having kids.

January 28, 2008

How Much Can One Person Take?

My mom got a call last week from her sister informing her that my Grandpa had a stroke and was in the hospital. His timing couldn't have been much worse - my Aunt Jo, his caregiver, just had shoulder surgery at the beginning of January so she wasn't able to be much help. So my mom and dad drove to Arlington to help out. They've been there for 4 days now and were in the process of transferring my Grandpa to a physical therapy hospital when my Grandma suffered a minor stroke.
I wish there was something I could do. My mom is very stoic in situations like this so I know she's handling everything with grace but seeing her father and then her mother each suffer a stroke within a week has to be indescribably torturous.
My poor Mommy.

*Update: my Grandpa was moved to a Rehabilitation Hospital where he will remain for about a month but his recovery is promising and the doctor said my Grandma's "episode" is typical at her age. Since she went in and out of it within a matter of minutes, he said there really isn't anything they can do and that it was most likely caused by stress.

January 25, 2008

Just Like The Gym

In the same way that I sometimes struggle with going to the gym, I was having a hard time motivating myself to go to class last night. As soon as I made the connection between the two, I realized I had to go. Never do I regret going to the gym. It's only when I'm having a rough day and I decide to skip it that I regret my decision. And as I drove home last night, I knew I made the right decision.

January 24, 2008

Round 2

Okay,
I am fortunate to be in school.
I've been waiting for this for 6 years.
I'm taking really interesting classes and learning a lot.
I am changing my life.
I think I can get off my lazy ass and get to class.

Dilemma

Today sucks.
I'm really tired.
I'm feeling gloppy (Whatever that means. The sound of it seems so fitting for how I feel.)
and I just want to go home and crash on the couch.
I feel weak and feeble
and don't want to exert the energy
to drive to school and learn
but if I don't go
Logic will be disappointed in me.
And that's worse than being tired.

January 23, 2008

A busy weekend leads to a dragging Amaya

I'm having the hardest time getting through this week and I blame Logic's sister for that. She drove up from Oregon last weekend to see us and we took her through the city. On Saturday we drove up to Capitol Hill to see the Asian Art Museum (whoops. no picture of that) at Volunteer Park and then walked down to the arboretum

to see some flowers

in the middle of January. We also climbed a shitload of stairs to an observation deck that overlooked downtown.

After that, we went to La Rustica for the best Italian food in the city and finished the night off with some wine and Scrabble.
On Sunday we drove downtown and walked through the Market

before drinking the afternoon away in the Purple Cafe.


The whole weekend was really great, but damn I'm tired!

January 16, 2008

John Cage/Marcel Duchamp/Yoko Ono

My Art History class is proving to be challenging and really interesting.
We're learning so many compelling things about Art after the 1960s and also about the type of art that influenced it.
On Tuesday we talked about John Cage. Have you heard of him? In case you haven’t – he was a famous composer who studied Zen and Karl Jung psychology. He incorporated that into his performances, and he later inspired the US movement "The Happenings" organized by Kaprow. We reenacted one of his pieces called 4’33”. He had a famous pianist perform at Woodstock by going onto the stage, opening the piano tray and then sitting there for four minutes and thirty three seconds. Occasionally he would close the key tray and then open it again.. but that was it. It symbolized how music is everywhere and in everything. It doesn’t have to be composed. It can be someone’s breathing or shuffling around in their chair, etc.We did a shortened version of that and it was really cool. All the noises felt heightened.
We also talked about Duchamp and how he changed people’s ways of viewing art too. He took a urinal and turned it 90 degrees and called that art. Very interesting way of thinking. He tried entering the piece in an Art show under a pseudonym and it went missing before the exhibit. He was furious and took his story to the paper. He explained that Art is whatever the Artist chooses it to be and that his piece had every right to be in the exhibit. It was never recovered but still managed to be effective in altering the modern definition of Art.
Also I learned that Yoko Ono is a Fluxus artist (I thought she was just married to a Beatle). Anyway, she did a lot of really interesting performance pieces. One is called Cut Piece and she invites people in the audience to come up and cut pieces of her clothing off. When I first heard about it I thought it was really provocative and it made me uncomfortable. Very sexual. But we talked about it and watched a video clip of one of them and it was REALLY interesting. The performance is symbolic of how women have been treated throughout history. The women in the audience came up and cut little pieces off her sleeve or collar and then this one guy came up and cut her shirt off and the straps of her bra (all of this was spontaneous). It was really interesting to see the classes reaction. Plus, Yoko tried to stay as still as possible but you could tell by her eyes that she was really traumatized by his actions.
I feel like I'm already seeing Art from a different perspective and I can't wait to learn more! I'm going to the Seattle Art Museum this weekend with Logic and his sister and I look forward to seeing if I'm able to apply any of my new-found knowledge.

January 14, 2008

Litter Police

I never thought I'd end up being the girl who is so frugal that she'll park a mile away just to get free parking and then take the bus to where she's going. But that's exactly what I did on Saturday. Granted, I parked next to the gym knowing I'd eventually end up back there, but still.
I needed to pick up a prescription and then got side tracked at J. Crew before going to my favorite yoga class. A pretty good day, if you ask me. But something happened while I was waiting for the bus that I can't get out of my head.
As I walked down the hill I saw a man waiting at the bus stop I would soon be at. He was a big guy who showed signs of street life and was wearing multiple layers of clothes in what I assume was his attempt to stay warm. He was standing behind a partition to block the wind.
I chose to feel the breeze on my face so I walked past him and stood next to the bus stop.
We waited for ten minutes before the bus to downtown pulled up. Between walking down the hill and getting on the bus there were 2 other buses that teased us by turning into the far right lane and driving right past us. In both of those situations, the man walked from behind the covering toward the actual stop and then after realizing the bus wasn't going to stop, would walk back to the protected benches.
The second time that happened he stopped next to me and proceeded to blow his nose into a new tissue. And then it happened... he threw the Kleenex into a puddle on the side of the road.
I stood there in disbelief for a minute. How could a man who sleeps on these same streets disrespect them like that? Dirtying his own space AND the space of everyone who uses that street.
Had he not been extremely intimidating, I'm not sure what I would have done. But I just kept my mouth shut. How would you have handled that?

January 11, 2008

How To Win a Fight - Fark

I do not advocate violence - but I thought this was interesting since most girls aren't taught how to fight, which in turn means they aren't taught to defend themselves.
Here's a step-by-step post about how to fight that I found through fark.

January 10, 2008

Barack Obama

“I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.
A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.
But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment - in this election - there is something happening in America.
There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit - who have never before participated in politics - turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common - that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take
this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.
You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness - Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence
that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve - no destiny we cannot fulfill.
Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get
a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.
Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.
We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.
We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.
And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; 12
All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.
But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.
That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.
And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we
will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

January 08, 2008

Sad Statistics

Little more than one-third of high school seniors now read proficiently.

American adults of virtually all education levels are reading less
well than in the previous decade.

Employers now rank reading and writing as top deficiencies in new hires.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg....
To find out more, you can go to "To Read or Not to Read" here.


January 06, 2008

Collegiate Life

School starts on Tuesday and I wonder how that will effect the time I give to the ole blog. I've signed up for Reading Major Texts and Art History of the 1960s. Both classes sound really intriguing - but we'll see how I feel about them toward the end of the quarter.

The desk has been put together and my homework station is ready to go. Books have been ordered and will be delivered this week. All I need is to pull my backpack out of the closet and find a binder.

Wish me luck.