Thrilling Thursday

Very, very excited today as we are off to Mexico City for long weekend tomorrow! Yay! We have to get up at the ridiculous hour of around 4am (3am Mexico City time!) for our flight.

Had to leave work a little early today to meet a delivery truck with a box of Paul's old junque and also his dad's old flip top desk, which is now under the window in our dining room (a place to hide mail! Instead of thrown all over the table!)

Oh- and I have to move offices when I return from the trip (4.5 years here, the whole time in the same office, so yes, I guess I will miss it
alittle...) Fortunately, I think that will happen for me second week in April so at least I didn't hafta start packing today.

I am hoping to post a nice, lengthy travel post when I return on all we've been up to.
hasta la vista, mi amigos y amigas!
B

Sickie Saturday

Ugh- managed to go all winter without fully succombing to whatever scourge was going around. Not this time... woke up Tuesday wif a sore froat. Throughout the day it started to feel worse, then the body aches started. Came in on Wednesday because I knew a project at work needed my input and it was on a tight timeline. Thursday, however, took a much needed sick day. a real sick day where I stayed in my pj's all day, watched a girly movie in the morning ("Little Black Book", fyi- Holly Hunter was great as usual, the rest was rather amusing, but not earth shatteringly great or anything), ate leftover garlic-loaded chicken rice soup that I made on Tuesday, drank tea with honey and slept. First on the couch, and then in bed. Made a real difference! Yesterday, feeling significantly better, I cleaned the house, did laundry, took a nice bubbly whirlpool bath, ran errands and went to see the Oscar winning documentary, http://kids-with-cameras.org/bornintobrothels/ "Born Into Brothels".

I could see why this won so many awards, including the Oscar. I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it yesterday afternoon. Wanting to purchase on of the photos, done by Suchitra, entitled "cat" http://kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/ (click on the second page and the picture of the cat), but it's $250 for the smallest print. I think I will have settle for purchase of the book, instead- plus it'll have photos taken by the other kids as well as helping out with their education. What the founder/documentarian Zana Briski did kind of reminds me of what my friend Gin started right here in Baltimore with Wide Angle Community Media (see "links"), which is to take at risk kids and teach them a format to express themselves through media- whether it's photography in the case of Kids With Cameras, or video and film in the case of Wide Angle.
A big difference being the state of poverty in which these kids live. But is any one state of poverty any more palitable than another?

After all those years dressing sets in some pretty bleak locations in Baltimore and DC- housing projects, crack houses, etc... what I saw in the Red Light District of Calcutta very much reminded me of blighted areas right here, closer to home, where drugs, prostitution, filth, and destructive life patterns and poverty is passed on from generation to generation like some tragic legacy. As far as schools... although I was a product of Baltimore City Schools, as were my brothers, and we all came out fine- what about the state of them now, some 30 + years later? They are on the brink of bankruptcy, with teen pregnancy, firearms and hard drugs are commonplace. Yeah- we might've smoked some weed out on the playground on occasion, but we also brought home A's & B's and expected that we would go on to do *something* with our lives.

A big influence for me was attending the Baltimore School For The Arts- their motto now is even "Where the Arts change kids' lives"- and how true that was. I went to High School with kids from really rich tony neighborhoods like Roland Park and Homeland, along with kids from the O'Donnell Heights projects and blighted areas in Penn North. I'd been in homes in both, seen people being brought up in ways I couldn't imagine- both more opulent and also much poorer-but all of us kids were friends- rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, it didn't matter, we were all bound by our passion for our various artistic endevours. Much like the scene in the film, where young Avijit goes to Holland for a special exhibition and meets kids from the around the world. These other children are fascinated by what he sees with his camera's eye, as he is by seeing his breath in the cold Amsterdam air. In one scene, you see him having fun and joking around with the other children. There they are- bound together by their universal humanity, and by their art. Coincidentally, I now work a block away from my old High School. They are expanding into the building next door. I wish them well.

As I also wish well those kids in the film. I do hope that they manage to open the "Kids With Cameras" school. I most worry about Suchitra. It was her photos that appeal to me most (could it be the cats? ;-) ). I suppose I like her concise, well composed, clear shots. At the end of the film, it said that she was not enrolled in school. The right schooling, the right encouragement, can change everything. Art can change kids lives.

Please take the time to visit the websites linked above. If this film, "Born Into Brothels" is playing in your city, go see it. If there are similar programs set up in your city, contribute when finances allow and/or offer your time and expertise if you have it to offer.

My next post shall be more personal, but I just had to put this one "out there".

Happy Easter for those that celebrate it,
Beth

Monday Monday

Yay! Short week this week and today is almost over... Have I accomplished everything on my "to do" list for today? Er, no, but have done some of it...

Had a weekend filled with social engagements. Friday night instead of heading to the gym, I headed for 2 for 1 cosmos with some work mates at the hotel bar down the street. Then it was off to stop by and see a friend. As I was in the neighborhood, afterwards, I had to head to La Sirenta for some carry out tacos- 2 chicken, 1 ceviche tostada and a quesadilla. Oh, and some gaucamole. Brought them home and shared with Paul who was sleeping on the sofa, lazy sod. ;-)

Then, Saturday it was all about the laundry, loading up the iPod with more choonz, and various other around the house stuff. Went for a run/walk in the hood and discovered that the high school up the road has got a track. Took a few spins around. Then, that night was Lisa's going away. She's moving back to TO this week. Found out she's been dating this guy who looked familiar- turns out he's a friend of Sheila, which is how I know him- from her parties. Saw Paige who is heading off to India for 3 months- had to beg off her going away invite as we're flying to Mexico City early the next morning.
Ramon was there, and made some pretty tasty paella- just like his daddy taught him in his restaurant in Valencia. Lisa and Kelly told me he rode around town all day looking for the ingredients. He had to beg and borrow a proper paella pan off the folks at Tio Pepe. It was like a cooking show in the kitchen there for awhile. Had a pleasant time.

Next morning it was off to Mama's on the Half Shell for brunch with the family (sans Bill, Diane and Juliette). Nice place! Worth a trip back for brunch- was very heavy on brunchy stuff with seafood (my fave). Had eggs benedict with crab and spinach, hash browns and raw oysters. Also a bloody mary (a proper one, with Old Bay) and coffee. Mom gave me a cute purplish purse/handbag (not sure what I'll wear it with though..) and Dave and Erin gave me knitting stuff, including the feminist knitter's manifesto "Stitch and Bitch". Hope to learn to knit sometime in the near future. I think it'll make a nice hobby and maybe keep me from snacking in the evenings (can't unwrap chocolates and knit one, purl two at the same time ;-) ).

Picked up a NY Times and went home and read and napped and generally got some well needed loafin' time in. Went to Dan and Spoon's last night for the Pachyderm Pot Luck. The parade to the train cars was very brief, though. Seems it's only the elephants they walk that way anymore- no more horses, zebras, llamas, etc. to be seen... we were thinking of writing Ringling Brothers and asking them what was up!

Met a nice girl, Mindy, who moved here a couple of months ago from Austin (by way of North Dakota, Japan, France and Spain). A real kindred spirit. It's been awhile I realize, since I've met new people and chatted away merrily like that. Dan had a fire going in an old Weber Grill, which was nice- as were the "fill your own Vaccaros cannoli" someone else had brought. Yum.

So tonight we may be going to a britishexpat meetup if Paul get out of work in time. I hope he does. Don't feel like cookin' and missed the last one as I was painting the downstairs bathroom.

Okay, that's enough of my ordinary life for today...
signing off,
B

Thank Everything Its Friday!

TGIF, TFIF, even… by Friday my sleep deficit has gone severely into the red, and I cannot wait to make a deposit by having a lie in both tomorrow and Sunday. My late afternoon coffee and sugar crash from that coffee and 2 Berger cookies I had at 2:30 ain’t helpin’, either.
But must go to the gym, must go to the gym, must go to the gym. So many thank yous to husband Paul for the ipod for my birthday- makes it so much easier to deal with my heavy metal muscle head gym. Only a few weeks left there, then it’s hit the streets or join Paul’s gym. What a bummer- this being 40 thing- I must exercise each week or risk the pounds and inches piling right on with no hesitation. Can’t wait until Paul turns 35- and it happens to him!
An Oirish co worker is/was a very similar build to Paul, only shorter. He’s still really thin, but now he’s got a little gut. He’s 38. He told me today that as soon as he turned 35, the gut started growing. Ha! Just you wait, Paul…
Well, almost quittin’ time. Doing my best to make a contribution to the blog at least a few times a week. Lost of social activity planned this weekend, so hopefully lots to "talk about"…
Over and out,
B

My firstest ever blog post...

Hello blog world!
This is my first ever blog post. I do have a photo page on pbase with a few captions I've written, I post on some online forums, but this is the first time I am putting virtual pen to paper for the sole purpose of of sharing my thoughts with the online world...

Who wants to read this stuff? I've read a couple of other friends' blogs, I admit, which gave me the idea to start my own. It makes a lot of sense as a travel journal- but for the day to day? Are there really people out there that like to read about the mundane musings of other people?

There must be. I know on pbase, when I first joined, I quite enoyed looking at other people's ordinary photos- weddings, birthday parties, people on the street. It can be fascinating.

For now, though, I'm quite tired, and tomorrow is Friday. I hope to have more to tell this blank page when my eyelids aren't quite so heavy.