"Justice is what love looks like in public" -Cornell West

Hey all! This is a great opportunity to learn more about human trafficking and get a chance to respond! Check it out!

pissed

I just got to work from a bus drive - and I am so pissed off, work will not get done until I get this off my chest.
The 2 guys sitting right by me began talking about this strip club that we would be passing, and another guy joined in too. I can not believe they preceded to carry on a conversation like that inside of a full bus!!! It's one thing to talk about these things but it just seems so much worse to be talking about it openly like that in public - and with ladies around. So I'm upset by what I heard, and I'm upset that they were saying it while sitting right next to me and other women seated around too.
And why don't I say some smart comment? Why? That would have felt so good. Especially if I played off the fact that he complimented my hair and teeth (? weird i know.) I'm way too quiet sometimes.
How my heart breaks...because those men are missing out on what love is. Those women are missing our...and are either/both being abused or settling for getting all their attention through their bodies. Love is not an exchange, it is not a give to get. People are so much more then that...how I wish we'd love one another with our whole selves. When we find that people are worth giving for merely to give...that would create a revolution.

art, washington, and friends

I was extremely lucky to be able to make a quick jaunt up to the Seattle area last week for my friend Troy's mural unveiling/ art show. Troy is one of my favorite people in the world and also a fellow artist. Although Troy is like a genius artist - he just draws things without even thinking about what he's doing - he's never put that much effort into actually intentionally creating "art." He has however, put a ton of effort into creating this mural for roundabout the past 2 years. Much of that time was spent erasing what had been put up...but through all of the backtrackings of the artistic process...he finally got it completed - and it really is one of the most magnificant works of art I've ever stood in front of. Never have I felt so absorbed by an artwork, content to sit and look at it for a long, long time. And it's neat, because it's in a staircase with a sunlight up top - so light is always changing. The night after the art show I went to look at it in the dark, and the water/dove part was nearly glowing from light that was filtering in from the lower door. It's a really amazing peice of work and my friend is even more amazing. In fact, all the people up there at Tierra Nueva are fantastic people...it refreshes and nourishes my soul to be among them.
Other then the artshow, it was also a going away. Troy left for Paris on Sunday and will be gone for a year. The day after the art show we got to chill at the lake, which was like the camping trip that I don't have this summer :) I also got to spend time with my friend Christen who also happens to be an artist. We met in San Francisco when we were both living there and she is a dear and kindred friend who it's a joy to connect with! Check out her art-blog here.
Other then that - I fit in a second surfing trip last week (not as successful due to waves and bathing suit) and hopefully there will be a third this week! Soon enough I'm going to need my own board!
I've been enjoying life at the house. Letting myself just be. Working on art. Hanging out with people. Life is in a good process :)

july 4th

I'm just getting ready to go to bed, and the fireworks are still going strong outside my house (mind you, I suppose it is a little early - but I'm working in the morning.) I don't know what they deal is, but I think my Mexican neighbors must have some secret hook-up to getting good fireworks, because from my front porch, there's no reason to go to any sort of fireworks show...they're being launched on all sides of me. Which made me glad that I decided to stay home. I set up my little "studio space" in our outdoor garage and even got to a little bit of painting back there. Which I'm not too excited about anything I created yet - but it was nice nonetheless.

Just as exciting (if not more), I went surfing for my first time today! My pal James taught me and it was great! Yes...I failed to put on sunscreen (I thought we'd be back in by 9:30, but we stayed out until nearly 1pm!) so I have quite a red complexion know, and yes I have bruises spattered all over my body in some of the oddest places - it was still well worth it. I feel like I made alot of headway in duking it out with the waves and learning about them and balance with the board. I did manage to stand up (not on the big waves...just the little ones before they make it to shore!) which was very exciting! I look forward to going more :)

All of this and still 2 whole days of weekend left!

finshed Jayber Crow

A few days ago I finished reading Jayber Crow. I really enjoyed the narrative of the book, as well as the thoughts on a slower, community-centered life. As a person just leaving her 20s behind, I've come to learn that things don't happen as fast as I wanted them to when I was 21. They take time. Relationships take years to develop. And you can't force things. I heard this loudly echoed in this book and appreciated gaining some insight. The river was a constant thread in the life of Jayber, the main character...and here's one more thing he had to say about it...

The river and the garden have been the foundations of my economy here. Of the two I have liked the river best. It is wonderful to have the duty of being on the river the first and last thing every day. I have loved it even in the rain. Sometimes I have loved it most in the rain.
No matter how much it may be used by towing companies and water companies and commercial fishermen and trappers and the like, the river doesn't belong to the workaday world. And no matter how much it is used by pleasure boaters and water-skiers and the like, it doesn't belong to the vacation world either. It is never concerned, if you can see what I mean. Nothing keeps to its own way more than the river does.
Another thing: No matter how corrupt and trashy it necessarily must be at times in this modern world, the river is never apart from beauty. Partly, I suppose, this is because it always keeps to its way.
Sometimes, living right beside it, I forget it. Going about my various tasks, I don't think about it. And then it seems just to flow back into my mind. I stop and look at it. I think of its parallel, never-meeting banks, which yet never part. I think of it lying there in its long hollow, at the foot of all the landscape, a single opening from its springs in the mountains all the way to its mouth. It is a beautiful thought, one of the most beautiful of all thoughts. I think it not in my brain only but in my heart and in the lengths of my bones.

-Wendell Berry