mountainous heathen!
holly girl
jennyman
cyrus
boyk
sina boy
robert reich
honey jaan
Prufrock
If
Afraid So
Today's poem
~ Monday, February 27, 2006
plug for water and heroes
apparently, in spring of 1984, when i was busy being born and fascinated by my hands--things i haven't stopped doing since--the African Country of Sudan was busy having the worst drought/famine episode in as long as the farmers can remember. it was so devastating, that they're still seeing the influence of it today, what with their high incidence of cholera, malaria, Hep A, Hep E, meningitis, only to name a few.
i'm trying to sell doctors without borders tomorrow in class. not many people our age know about them. usually unicef or the world food programme comes to mind.
rain is a good thing, people. really.
~ Saturday, February 25, 2006
wheels on the bus
mr holland is a historical linguist, who dabbles in typology as well. he knows everything about the ancient world. or at least, what seems like everything to me. he asks us, "i've been telling you this for weeks now, but...do you believe it in your bones?" i shake my head only because i can't tell the difference between the sounds. he tells us that words like 'wheel' have reduplication because wheels turn incessantly. he connects everything back to the root, back to speech and reason.
mrs. fleming, on the other hand -- who reminds me very much of my mom -- connects everything back to insulin. she asks us if we excercised today, because we're only fighting a losing battle against time with our bone loss. you still have a couple years, she says, but we know she's edging on truthiness.
ms kobuschewski is polish. she's from the midwest and a naval officer. she calls a kitchen a 'galley' and stealing 'dry labbing.'
there is artery plack and lipid oxidation, but there are also laws that somehow link sanskrit 'cakra' to the english 'wheel.'
they are generations from the days of yore, come to tell us about how it is, how it should be; come to share with us a piece of their mind. and without fail, to each his own more than a tinge of irony and 'khoorde shishe.'
~ Thursday, February 16, 2006
caminos
i wonder when it is that i'm supposed to start growing grass. and no, that is not what kids are calling it these days. that was six years ago. i also wonder if other people's hair have as much fun as mine does. today, i was bouncing down my hill top, and it was so free and crazy. suffice it to say it's always had a mind of its own, but days like this make me appreciate the depths of the horror that seems to sit so happily upon my head.
it's crisp outside these days. i told the zemocha cafe man that it feels like october outside. he agreed, and showed me the kind of chocolate he uses in his drinks. i don't remember the name. he says the french like their chocolate a little darker. i think we basically had two different conversations, each a monologue to his own. i'd say i like dark chocolate, and he'd ask if i was a chai person. he's sweet, and has honest eyes. you should go sometime when you're free. 1959 shattuck ave.
quotes of the day from here and there:
"you know, i don't know where we've been but here we are again."
"although the invariant heart of the morpheme never changes, the wars of faithfulness vs markedness will never end." --s. inkelas
~ Sunday, February 05, 2006
clay pot
i'm so glad jenny's going to buy a house in the berkeley hills someday. suffice it to say that she'll have to be a millionaire, but that isn't a problem for her. this way we'll always have someone to visit in the hills.
goal for this week is to get up at 7 even when i have no class. it shouldn't be too difficult, especially since every wednesday, you'll find me at the cheeseboard buying "wolverines." have you had them? they're amazing.
still haven't found pottery pants. it's very sad that the lack of pants is what's keeping me out of that hole under sproul. very sad indeed.
betty's camera, which is a sony, finally broke and gave up on the good life it had. sony support does nothing for you. if anything breaks, it's best to save your breath and not even call.
i miss having a t.v. on days like this. it's good having it in the house and going to see the commercials every so often. sina always watched it, and one year, i got really into football. another year, he got me really into baseball. my god, can you imagine? baseball!
cherry blossoms are out, and spring is almost here. march 20th, 10:26 a.m. pacific time.
~ Wednesday, February 01, 2006
If you ever have trouble getting out of bed...
remember that there's a whole world which was up hours ago: the cook that wakes up at 4 to be at work by 5, only to find a tiny post it on the door saying that his helper is out sick today, making the whole day go to hell even before the sun rises.
the man telling you this today, in his nice coat and tie, goes down for a break only when the doctors are coming in at eight. "they look right through me, because they only see my badge missing the blue strip on it." he's got a daughter at ucla, a son in grad school, a mortgage, a wife, and....a dog at home. "it's not beneath my dignity to mop floors and wash dishes," he says to us. we generally look at him with glazed over eyes that say none of us aspire to become dishwashers and foodservice professionals. but that's not what he was saying. it's like he was my dad telling me that no work is beneath me and that you should never look down on the trashman, even though i'm sure my dad has never washed dishes as a profession. he says to us, "i don't mind you making mistakes. i just want some variety."
so tomorrow morning, when it's 7:30 and you think it's too early and your bed is too damn warm, think of where you're going. you're going to class, to sit, to enjoy a leizurly time listening to a preprepared lecture whose sole purpose is to somehow reach you and stick with you.
