Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Soccer Game, Saying Goodbye to Friends, Fun with Workmates, Irish music and Sushi in SF, Dinner with Cousins, Quality Time with Scot and Iris ;)
On Wednesday a packed Raleigh's Bar watched one of the best soccer games I've ever seen!!! And I actually got to take the afternoon off work to sit down and enjoy it. It was the 2008 finals of the European Champions League. Manchester United and Chelsea tied after a 1-1 game that included 2 incredible goals, some unbelievable moves by Renaldo, a fight that included a bitch slap, a missed penalty kick by the best player in the world (Renaldo), and another missed penalty kick by the captain of the Chelsea team!! For game highlights check out the link below...I also got to play soccer this week for the first time in a few months. I have to admit the guy I played with said I was a girl version of Renaldo. It was his way of telling me that I dribble way to much and never pass ... haha.
I said goodbye to Laura and Ariane on Sunday. These are my roomies from my last semester at Cal who I lived with at the white house. Laura is heading home to San Diego for a week before venturing off to do Teach For America for 2 years in New Orleans! Ariane is working for Greenlining in the Bay Area over the summer. It will be nice to have a friend nearby :)
Lately I've been getting to know my workmates outside our little work home which has been really interesting. I think having good friends at work makes a job feel like more of a warm home than a 12-5 in n'out burger joint.
I also made dinner with the cousins and some of their friends.
In our quest to discover SF Geoffrey and I tried a sushi restaurant rated as the best sushi in the Bay Area by the Guardian. The place was called Ryoko's Japanese restaurant and bar in the downtown area. I have to say this roll, the "jumping Unagi" (eel and avocado fried), was one of the best things I have ever tasted!! Next week we want to try the best Italian restaurant....I can't wait!
We also saw a good band called third date at Ireland32. It's part of my quest to find an Irish bar that plays amazing live Irish music. This music wasn't Irish but I thought they were really good live. Their influences are Dave Matthews, Green Day, The Beatles, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, and all that is good.Here's a link: http://www.myspace.com/thirddate
Scot and I laughed the afternoon away last Monday over some yummy Roundtable pizza which is an all you can eat joint from 11-2!
Ah, and I had a wonderful morning phone conversation with beautiful Iris. We solidified plans for our John Muir Trail hike in July. We also talked about balancing our yin and yang, genuine connections we've experienced over the week, new poems we've discovered, Unitarian Universalism universal peace dance services, her city year gala, and the way hot tea and mantra meditation caress our soul. I feel so lucky to have a sister who brings so much laughter, insight, inspiration, and love into my life!!!
I love you guys and am so happy that Lowell is home :)!!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Grace Woods Trio, Caitlin and Sabine, New Book, JMT itinerary done!
It was an exciting week! This is a picture taken at a Grace Woods Trio show on Tuesday in SF at the Hotel Utah Saloon. She came out with a CD that includes many new songs! She also has a music video on her website where all of us are blowing bubbles. I love seeing Ellen and getting to know Megan on the far left who are both into hiking, volunteering, surfing, adventuring...they are doing the Trail Challenge in which you are given a list of the best trails in Northern California and have to complete them by a certain day to get a shirt!! I wish I was staying!
This week I also enjoyed an amazing spin class which I found really uplifts my spirits. I'm hoping to play some soccer this week and go to another dance class Wednesday and yoga class Monday night. Also, I finally returned Caitlin Justice's call. Caitlin from back in the day! She is engaged and living in Concord and is going to come visit soon! I also hung out with sabine who wants to go on a spiritual journey with me in India, backpack S America with me, and hike with me around Kuai, Hawaii next summer!! She got into a PhD program at UCLA and will be studying philosophy there starting in June! I also went on an adventure into the city and found a cool Irish bar. Next week Geoffrey and I are going to Ireland32 which is a great Irish bar with Irish music!!!...I can't wait!
I just finished another book The Other Side of You by Salley Vickers which is about a therapist and his patient. I got 2 amazing gifts from reading this book. The first is that it really reminded me that true connections are formed when two people fully share everything about themselves without hiding anything. The second is that it supported the view which I have that people can really be healed by hearing someone else's story. In my view therapists shouldn't only be listeners they should also share a bit of themselves. I think this gives patients the courage to open up.
I also finished the John Muir Trail Itinerary. It was tough coming up with 21 breakfast lunch and dinners! But it's done and I'm happy we'll be eating some yummy grub and also have a game plan for where to camp along the way and all that! We'll hike about 10 miles a day for 20 days and resupply once!Friday, May 9, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tears for Flowers
Hey Everyone! Here is a picture of the Dever Friendship Garden! Finally! The signs should go up soon, bulbs are blooming everyday! Yay! The work of our after-school kids.
So interesting story, everymorning the kids work on or write a new story to practice their writing. After about 40 minutes or so, they "come to the rug and share." The first to share was Tyrece. "Davon" he says. "Davon was my brother. He woke up everyday with a smile on his face. He is dead now. Someone shot him. Everyday he would play with me and my brothers. He was always nice to all of us. I went to his funeral. Everyone was crying. I saw my aunt, her nose was bleeding. I asked her why. She said because she was crying so much....."
There was a sub in today, who had no idea if this story was real or made up or when it happend. A couple of weeks ago, this kid came in upset. I asked him what was wrong. Tyrece started crying saying his brother had been shot. The next day his mother tried to commit suicide.
The sub today, went into how his sister had died. He also mentioned some strange details about his prostate cancer, something about a metal implant and walking through metal detectors...don't ask. He reassured me he went to Georgetown and he was at Regans innauguration. Anyways, by the end of the day the entire class was in tears. "My grandma died, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin, my god brother, my bird, my cat, a worm....I heard all of their death stories and by then end of the day I was the "death doctor" as little Jaylis liked to call me. It was a ripple effect like I have never seen! Later though, I was called the heaven doctor...
I love you all, these kids need our help and our support. I am glad there are wonderful people in the world like you to guide them.
So interesting story, everymorning the kids work on or write a new story to practice their writing. After about 40 minutes or so, they "come to the rug and share." The first to share was Tyrece. "Davon" he says. "Davon was my brother. He woke up everyday with a smile on his face. He is dead now. Someone shot him. Everyday he would play with me and my brothers. He was always nice to all of us. I went to his funeral. Everyone was crying. I saw my aunt, her nose was bleeding. I asked her why. She said because she was crying so much....."
There was a sub in today, who had no idea if this story was real or made up or when it happend. A couple of weeks ago, this kid came in upset. I asked him what was wrong. Tyrece started crying saying his brother had been shot. The next day his mother tried to commit suicide.
The sub today, went into how his sister had died. He also mentioned some strange details about his prostate cancer, something about a metal implant and walking through metal detectors...don't ask. He reassured me he went to Georgetown and he was at Regans innauguration. Anyways, by the end of the day the entire class was in tears. "My grandma died, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin, my god brother, my bird, my cat, a worm....I heard all of their death stories and by then end of the day I was the "death doctor" as little Jaylis liked to call me. It was a ripple effect like I have never seen! Later though, I was called the heaven doctor...
I love you all, these kids need our help and our support. I am glad there are wonderful people in the world like you to guide them.
Brunch, Cooking, Mantras, and Psychological Tests
So Scot has decided that we are going out to eat every Sunday. After a very long drive through the Concord Shop N' Park parking lot we made it to this weekends spot: a chinese buffet place. Evidently, even the Buddha gets hungry sometimes...As you can tell from his two full plates of food! Mom, Scot and I both agree Scot's pictures are getting better with time...haha. I'd say he sort of looks like he's in a meditative trance wouldn't you? Kind of like Gandhi after a hot bath...very soothed.
Okay so I wouldn't say I have achieved Martha Stewart status yet...but I am getting there. Haha... that is my goal. This weeks meal was veggie lasagna. It was delicious! There is actually a very funny story that goes along with it. Do you see how it is missing some structure. Yes, that's because I realized, after 3 hours of baking from 9-12pm, I forgot to put in 4 eggs! Eggs apparently are what give lasagna it's structure. Nevertheless it is some damn good vegetarian lasagna with carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, onions and lots of cheese! Here is the recipe if you wanna give it a try: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Convenient-Vegetarian-Lasagna/Detail.aspx
This Sunday I discovered something incredible. I was given an amazing gift that I want to share with you guys. I went to the Nyigma Buddhist Institute on Sunday and sang a beautiful mantra for 45 minutes. It filled my soul with so much peace and since it is so short it is something you can keep in your heart throughout the day to maintain a sense of serenity and warmth no matter what the difficult situation. I couldn't find my mantra on the internet but Scot and I both agree this mantra is beautiful. Check it out on youtube! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=158AWXhDdZI
Iris has been doing this program with kids where she shows them pictures and has the kids talk about what they see. We were both amazed at the variety of things kids said about the picture! I was telling Iris that psychologists use to discover a lot about a persons personality based on the story they told about a given picture. It was called the thematic apperception test.Wiki says " Historically, the Thematic Apperception Test or TAT has been amongst the most widely used, researched, and taught projective psychological tests. Its adherents claim that it taps a subject's unconscious to reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy, and problem-solving abilities.
This is one of the pictures psychologists used. If your interested try telling a 1 page story about it and see what comes out of yourself. I found it to be very telling of desires in me I didn't even know existed!
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