cat!

where is she going?
nobody is knowing...

Update on Corruption

Good news! An Indian organization has issued millions of "zero rupee notes" in an attempt to discourage corruption. It is an ingrained part of the culture there to give and take bribes for routine things such as getting licenses. This costs India millions of dollars each year. The idea behind the zero rupee note is that it is a polite way to discourage those asking for bribes. Mexico may start a similar program soon.

India also had a recent strike against taxis, to discourage exorbitant rates.

If any of you read my my March 7th post on corruption, you know how happy this makes me!

Pulse of Earth

National Geographic photographer Carsten Peter was photographing volcanoes. They had to go inside the molten lake of Nyiragongo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The weather? 1800 degrees Farenheit. Yet he said of the experience, "It was a dream come true. You felt the pulse of the Earth through your body." (Nat'l Geo Magazine, March 2011)

Aleks Syntek

Love hurts, without you
It hurts so much it kills

I feel wetness in me, from
seeing you cry, don't even
If you go
I think it will make me suffer

Today I would like to stop time,

the distance between us

But the light of the sky turned off

The sun doesn't come out anymore

 I'm fragility without you

How to survive the end?

Where did I hurt you?

I don't no, recuperating left

Neither you or me are guilty

But we are vulnerable

this is life

what do I have left to live for?

Love hurts without you

It rains till your soaked

Love hurts without you

It hurts to the death

Love hurts without you

Everything is so gray

...

We're going to conquer/ A lion and a leopard come into this open place

I won't be denied by you,
the animal inside of you
- Neon Trees

Girl you are a beauty, well I am a beast.
-Jeremih

 I'll show you some of this family's secrets.
-Marlon Brando as Paul in "The Last Tango in Paris"

Here comes a lion, Father,
oh yes its a lion
We're going to conquer
A lion and a leopard come into this open place.
--translated from chanting in "The Circle of Life," the Lion King

Fui-Reik

 Lyrics to "Fui" by Reik

Today,
with pain,
arrives the ghost of your voice
telling me
Don't cry love.

I
am a link
that has gone missing between you and I.

I
was fire for you,
Today only ashes remain
the rest of me

I
was all
and without you
I disappear a little by little and I got lost
inside of myself

It was
cold the goodbye,
the seperation of us
Please,
only bring with you the silence that remained

...

By your side I was
so strong
I never imagined loosing you,
no no no
...

Belanova: Rosa Pastel

A nice girl-power pop song to get your day started. Lyrics translated by LigerLily below

 

Yes, I wanted to be that women

the mother of your children 

and, together walk towards the alter 

straight to the death

And finally, not even,

both of us destroyed each other,

and finally, whatever, 

You and I don't exist

No, I don't want to be that woman

She went down an abyss

And you weren't that who promised 

to be my super hero

And everything ended, nothing remains

we will be two strangers and I

I will forget you

You will forget me

Until never.

And where is that button that brings happiness?

Honey moon, pink cake,

cliches and sillyness

(repeat stanzas 2-4)

Colbert Report

Colbert is at his habitual hilarious in this clip that pokes fun at the traditional "High Art" world. (Note my quotation marks, which coincide with de Pury's opinions of rap.)

I appreciate Colbert's insistent sarcasm, as well as the grace with which de Pury deflects it...not many of Colbert's guests can do that.

Here is the link :www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/378277/march-21-2011/raging-art-on---simon-de-pury

Happy Belated Mardi Gras

 Masks are so cool!

Por Besarte

This is one of my favorite songs ever! By the duo "Lu".
Lyrics here translated to English from Spanish by LigerLily, me!

And you haven't given my time to tell you
That I want to love you
That for a kiss I can conquer the sky
And leave my life behind

I want to belong to you,
be something in your life,
that you can love me, with 
a strong embrace make you poetry, 
renounce all the rest

And in each hidden phrase of what you say
a kiss will speak
I have no more doubts, just come and listen
lets decide to start


Kissing you, my life would change in an instant
you, would by my equilibrium my destiny
kiss me, only then can I have you eternally in my mind

Only one try is enough
in this moment 
to be able to know 
if still enough time remains 
to be in the middle of what is going to happen


With me there is no danger, come I need you
the distance is not a reason for forgetting, 
Here I am with you,
and always will be

Kissing you, my life would change in an instant
you, would by my equilibrium my destiny
kiss me, only then can I have you eternally in my mind



(Photos: irishviews.com, Raquel Griffard "Fallen Angel, Layoutsparks.com )

The stars will be watching us

"The stars will be watching us,
and we will show them what it means
to be a thin crescent moon."

-Rumi

POP QUIZ: Jane Eyre, or Kaze no Stigma???

One of my goals in this blog is to illustrate the unity of concepts and themes in art which comes from contrasting times and places.

My post from March 15, 2011 is an example of that effort to bridge the distance between cultures. I showed that an ancient Hindu story and a recent Mexican pop song shared a theme of mouths and infinity.

So to continue, a pop quiz! (Hahaha you thought that you were done with those years ago....)

Which of these inspirational messages comes from Jane Eyre, (the classic by Charlotte Bronte that I missed in my education and am just now getting around to so that I can watch the movie) or Kaze no Stigma, (my latest anime show, in which Kaze is exiled from his clan for controlling wind, when his family controls fire. But I suspect he will have the last laugh, since he came back super bad-ass as the chosen one of the winds, and now his family needs him to stay alive.)

1. The memories unlocked them.


2. Am I cruel in my love?


3. A blast of wind in my heart...


4. When the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed...


5. Under the great weight of a single pain, emotions break loose and run through the darkness


6. I stopped once to ask myself what joy meant.

7. Just like water, destiny will begin to move forward on its own.


8. She comes from the other world.

9. Tell me if I can ever dream again.

Eye heart picture

Wow!

picture from: http://dailygab.com/files/2009/03/love_at_first_sight_by_angeliq.jpg

Love

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Khalil Gibran

Love

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

-Khalil Gibran, from The Prophet

picture from this site: http://writechoice.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/miss-emotion-im-not-your-servant/

Colors!

Don't forget to take my color survey! I'm so curious to see what colors people see themselves.

Aid to Japan

Today I donated to Japan's relief efforts by going to Living Social Deals.

It is a list serve that usually brings you one good deal a day for something fun, maybe $15 dollars for $30 worth of food at a local restuarant, or 1/2 off salon services.

But today, they are matching our donations!! If you give $5 to the Japan efforts, that actually gives $10, because this company matches your donations.

If you want to donate on a budget, like me, this may be the most effective way to do so.

This money goes towards the Red Cross.

Good luck and thank you!  Arigato!!!

Sadness

The nuclear problems Japan is facing reminds me hauntingly of this quote.

First They came... - Pastor Martin Niemoller, about the inactivity of German intellectuals in the Third Reich's rise to power.

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."

I know its cynical, but I can't help but think that now America will wake up, if the rich white kids start getting sick from radiation traveling over the Pacific.

Now the world will finally realize, there are no such things as "other peoples' problems." There are only our problems, and none of us our okay until everyone is okay. We have a responsibility to help.

Paradise Lips Universe Mouth

En tus labios hay indicios,
de que existe un paraiso

In your lips there is an indication

that a paradise exists.

RBD is one of my favorite Mexican Pop bands. They started out on a telenovela; the plot was about a group of students who formed a band, then in real life they became a band!

AND, from the story of Krishna

inside the baby mouth was seen the whole universe of moving and unmoving creation, the earth and its mountains and oceans, the moon and the stars, and all the planets and regions. She was wonderstruck to see the land of Vraja and the village of Gokula, herself standing there with the child Krishna beside her with a wide-open mouth, and within that mouth another universe, and so on and on and on.

http://ompage.net/ChristKrishna/krishna.htm

'There it is, life's beating heart'

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
— Anaïs Nin

I watched the movie Delta of Venus the other day. Its adapted from one of my favorite books. It reminded me of the beautiful complexity of life.

In my need for sweetness I had too much sugar. In my need for a challenge, I had too much pain. I didn't realize that the richness is defined by a shadow of loss.

Then I watched this movie. Some Anais Nin quotes for you; she 'gave female desire its own language.'

"Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions."

"I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living."  

"I hate men who are afraid of women's strength."

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." 

  

Help for Japan!

One of the reasons I began this blog is to raise awareness.
Often times I felt helpless when I saw some of the world's problems, because I thought: "I don't have any money to give them. I don't have any resources to donate."

Then I realized that the real problem was never lack of of money or resources, but lack of understanding and compassion.

Then I realized the real problem wasn't a lack of understanding and compassion, but a lack of education and experience which produce those.

We need experience; of other people, cultures, ways of life; so that we can empathize with their problems, and have compassion. (This is why I think its so important to travel) 

 

 We need an education, that shows us the things we can do to help.
(This is why I believe so strongly in social activism.)

  

These pictures are just a few examples of how Japanese culture has contributed to my life. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Japanese people in this difficult time for them.

  I've also researched and included links on how you can help Japan right now. Maybe, like me, you don't have any money to donate. That's okay. Just by reading this, maybe clicking on the links, you are part of a chain reaction of awareness. I believe that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Mexico, it can cause a storm halfway around the world. Lets combat this tsunami-earthquake with a positive storm.

  https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/japan?source=55400&gclid=CPTWm8ahzKcCFYbb4AodeHuNDA

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0313/Japan-tsunami-Here-s-how-you-can-help

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/how-to-help-japan-earthquake-relief_n_834484.html

Fish

No excuses! Plastic bags-1st part of a multi-part rant against plastic bags

Today I bought dishwasher detergent. It was 5.99 for the Method brand, which has no phosphates and no bleach. This protects the fishes. It had 20 pellets, for 20 washes. The Cascade brand was 6.99 for only 16 washes. So the fish friendly detergent was cheaper!!!!! No excuses for not making environmentally friendly buying decisions. The good karma paid off, because on this day, when I went to the checkout, with my canvas bag instead of a plastic bag, I had just enough rewards points that my detergent was practically free!

Stop fooling yourself, telling yourself that you will use the plastic bag to line your garbage can. I find thats true for only about 25% of plastic bags, because they don't necessarily fit your garbage can.

They are just trash trash trash that harms the beautiful fishes. Shame shame shame.

Besides, my Method brand soap smells nicely of Pink Grapefruit, or as the French would say, Pamplemousse.

More photos on the way, of the beautiful creatures you're harming with your plastic bag habit.

Pablo Neruda: I explain some things

 You'll ask: And where are the lilies?
And the metaphysics covered with poppies?
And the rain that frequently hit your words
filling them with holes and birds

I'll tell you all that happens to me.

I lived in a neighborhood of Madrid,
with bells, with watches, with trees.

From there could be seen the dry face of Castille,
like an ocean of leather.

My house was called The House of Flowers
because there were geraniums everywhere: 
it was a pretty house, with dogs and little ones.

Raul, do you remember?
Do you remember Raul?
Federico, do you remember beneath the ground,
do you remember my house with balconies  in which the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth?

Brother, brother! 
All were big voices, salt in the groceries, aglomorations of palpitating bread, markets of my neighborhood of Arguelles with its statue like a pale inkwell within the merluza birds:
the oil that filled the spoons,
a deep beating of feet and hands filled the streets,
meters, liters, 
sharp essence  of life,
stacked up fish,
with the texture of roofs with a cold sun in which the arrow becomes tired,
delirious fine marble of potatoes,
tomatoes repeated until the sea. 

And one morning everything was burning, 
and one morning the fires came from the earth, 
devoring beings,
and then fire, 
dust since then, 
and from then on blood. 
Bandits with planes and moors, 
bandits with sortijas and duquesas, 
bandits with black friars blessing came from the sky to kill children
and from the streets the blood of children ran simply, like blood of children.

Jackals that the jackal would refuse
Stones that dry thistle would bite and spit out
Vipers that the vipers would hate!

In front of you I've seen the blood of Spain rise to drown itself in one wave of pride and knives.

Treacherous generals: look at my dead house
look at broken Spain:
but from each dead house comes burning metal instead of flowers,
but from each hole of Spain comes Spain,
but from each dead child comes a gun wiht eyes,
but from each crime our born bullets that one day will reach you in the site of your heart.

You will ask, "why does your poetry not speak to us of dreams, of the leaves, of big volcanos of your country of birth?

Come to see the blood in the streets,

Come to see the blood in the streets,

Come to see the blood in the streets!

translated by LigerLily

 

Color Survey!

Check out the new survey I have on my blog, to the right of the posts. If you were a color, what would you be? Feel free to leave any of your colors with which you identify most, in the comments section, if Iforgot yours.

Rumi

Out beyond wrondgoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. 

When the soul lies down in that grass, 

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase each other

doesn't make sense.

-Rumi

Shakira!!!

One of my recent favorites of Shakira, her dancing is so inspiring.

Orchids

I love the beautiful asymmetry of orchids. They have a very deliberate grace to them. This photo and the one below of cherry blossoms are from the website LayoutSparks.com.

Its Springtime!

Yay! One of my favorite times of year, the cold is ending! Cherryblossoms

For my followers who didn't quite understand the Khalil Gibran quote on Buying and Selling, sorry! Basically, he said that you must be fair in your monetary transactions, or else you will not actually be obtaining any good. He writes in beautiful, quasi-religious metaphors. Even if you don't agree with his particular religious point of view, he sets up many good "ground rules" for human interaction and behavior. For more information, check out his book The Prophet, its a very easy read.

Khalil Gibran- Buying and Selling

This goes well with what I said about Corruption a few posts down.

To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands
It is in the exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.
Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.
.....
And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands.
For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.

Khalil Gibran- Clothes

One of my favorites, you'll be hearing much more from him. From The Prophet.

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.

And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain.

Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment,

For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.

...

Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.

And when the unclean shall be no more, 

what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

More meow meows

Corruption

I don't understand how when it comes to dealing with corruption, the smartest, kindest, most caring people shrug their shoulders and give up. 

For the biggest challenges facing our world today, we seem to have a supply of innovative, intelligent minds ready to combat them. AIDS? Scientists! Breastcancer? Doctors! Rainforest depletion? Activists and shade grown fair trade coffee farmers! 

Yet when it comes to helping our sisters and brothers in war-torn or natural disaster struck countries, such as Pakistan, African countries, or Afghanistan, we shrug our shoulders and say, "well we have given them plenty of money, and most of it just goes into the coffers of the warlords, the politicians."

I am glad that more people are becoming educated to the fact that the real problem is not lack of money, food, or even caring. The real problems are an ingrained fear of lack in those societies, which causes a grasping attitude towards materials, a culture of bribery, and above all, greed. (I make an important distiction here that this is not caused by the people, but circumstances, often made worse by US politics...)

So yes, corruption is a problem, but why do we consider it an insurmountable problem? We're not shy about finding alternative energy sources, protesting in the streets against the Iraq war, (SF 2004, woohoo! holla!), building houses for poorer people in Mexico City and New Orleans. We even have walkers for our disabled dogs. When it comes to a little skimming of the fat, however, we don't touch it with a ten foot pole. 

I implore my readers to not become discouraged! There are corruption indexes, to help you make good investment choices. There are transparent, non-governmental organizations. The minutes and budgets of our own Congress are allowed to be seen by the public. There are alternative ways to help like micro-financing or the Heifer project international. These give small amounts of resources to families, and the economic benefits ripple throughout the community. Give books, not money! For each year of education a girl receives, she postpones child-bearing; which combats poverty and gives her family a better chance of survival. I encourage you to check out these ideas, and post me more of your ideas!

Come on people; our country produces lights that we clap on, robots that mop our floors, and computers to which we can dictate our letters. We can deal.

Carla Bruni-lyrics

Everyone has certain songs that mean alot to them: that song you put on repeat during a particularly happy or sad part of your life. Favorite songs that always seem to match your mood.


This song is one of those for me. I've included a videoclip so you can listen, and the lyrics translated from the original French, to the best of my abilities. Its funny; I've been listening to this for years, and only now just translated it. Aaah, how music transcends all...


Which songs are some of your favorites?

Someone told Me 

They tell me our lives aren't worth much
They pass in an instant like roses fade
They tell me that the time slips is a jerk and that our sorrows were just worries, however, someone told me..


(Refrain)
That you still love me
Its that someone told me that you still love me.
Would it be possible then?


They tell me destiny makes lots of fun of us
That it gives us nothing and promises us everything
It seems that happiness is within reach, 
So we reach and find madness
However someone told me that

(Refrain)

But who told me that you still loved me?
I don't remember anymore, it was late at night,
I still here the voice but I don't see their features
"He loves you, its a secret, don't tell him I told you."
So you see, someone told me


That you still love me, they really told me
That you still love me, is it possible then?

They tell me our lives aren't worth much
They pass in an instant like roses fade
They tell me that the time slips is a jerk and that our sorrows were just worries, however, someone told me..

Refrain

Irish Blessing

In keeping with the St. Patrick's Day theme, here is one of my family's favorite pieces:

 May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

aww...

from Istanbul

I saw this quote in the Museum of Modern Art in Istanbul. It has echoed in my mind ever since.

"We are like fingerprints, 

don't look away,

we all live under the same sun."

Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

Free Rice- because we can't create art on an emptry stomach

No one likes to be hungry. I discovered this website, in which you answer easy trivia questions and then sponsors donate rice to hungry people around the globe for every right answer.

http://www.freerice.com/

Donating food instead of money can be an effective method to avoid corruption.

Rumi

Never think the earth void or dead-
It's a hare, awake with shut eyes:
It's a sauce-pan, simmering with broth-
One clear look, you'll see it's in ferment

Translated by Andrew Harvey, Rumi, Everyman's Library Pocket Poets

Leonard Cohen

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done –
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it’s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet –
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.