from the mouth of a babe

inadvertantly deleted my itunes...

maralove — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:35:14 GMT

so, as you can see, i stupidly deleted my entire itunes library through a tech glitch on my laptop. anyone here want to send me music to help rebuild? i am seriously bummed. help!!!

tell me something good

maralove — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:24:07 GMT

tell me a story about a moment that had you laughing so hard it hurt. i don't care if you think "you had to be there". i will get it. i will. tell me something good.

a question

maralove — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:05:03 GMT

i wonder at the ease with which some people fall into and then remain in love. how does that work? explain this to me. as though i was nine.

growing up

maralove — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:08:14 GMT

so i got a job. a good job. a job that uses my skills and training. and i am afraid that they will somehow find out that i am not an adult. that i am a kid in disguise. i feel like an impostor. but i suppose we all do. tell me about the instances when you have felt that way. ::pretty please::

turn around... head home, soon

maralove — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:46:11 GMT

well, that was completely short lived. he did some shit in the last week or two that erased all potential from our friendship, to say nothing of the "relationship". he endangered me and my son. driving 100+ mph on mountain roads and swerving to pass cars and saying, loud enough for henry to hear, "i'm driving like this to get home faster so i can get away from HIM!" pointing at my son. he has been an ass to my son and to me and is generally not the man i thought he was. at. all. amazing what proximity can do. i won't be doing this again. moving for someone. this was... well, as arinsberg put it, "a good lesson and now it's time to take the next step." so here i am. broke, and in need of my friends' assistance in getting home. i am passing the hat. because honestly, moving here was hard fiscally, but now? even harder. but we need to come back. now. as in less than two weeks. i need my people. to be near them. to be able to know that i can see the people who care and have them close again. because this is heartbreak for me. and henry needs his friends and the school that grokked him. at any rate, anyone who can help, anyone... paypal.com me. my paypal address is mamamara88@aol.com. no contribution is too small. seriously. i am humbled by having to ask, but now is not the time for pride. i just need to get back to where we are safe and loved. clearly this was a lesson to learn both quickly and with great difficulty. thank you all, in advance, for helping us.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

maralove — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:28:26 GMT

Happy Freaking Valentines Day, ya'll. Send me some love... need to feel the love.

isabel, again

maralove — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:38:45 GMT

Dear friends, My beloved Paulette is in need of support. Her daughter, Isabel, is in the hospital again. It turns out that her remission was short lived. She has been diagnosed with leukemia and is about to undergo chemo. She turns 5 today. Anyone in the Bay Area please contact me about possible assistance (including any performers who can go entertain this amazing little girl). Here is the website we put up in the fall. www.helpisabel.us Anything you can do will make all the difference.

poetry slam live

maralove — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:46:01 GMT

http://www.allaboutashland.com/Shows/Ashland_AfterHours.html Yeah, watch it. I think Mary Gabriel is awesome for doing this site and am thankful that she showcased us. Dig.

VOTE

maralove — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:20:22 GMT

Vote. Even if you feel like it won't count or matter. Vote. Even if you think that it is all a wash. Vote. Because it is the only way we can get these fuckers out of office. Vote. Because people like Katherine Harris are trying to get in. Vote. Because that cannot happen. Vote. Because it is your goddamned civic duty. Vote. Even if your cynical side is sitting there, hateful in the assumption that it is futile. Vote. Because most of us are internally begging for the eradicaction of all things linked to politics and the restoration of a true democray. And because that restoration can only happen if you freaking VOTE. Ok? Thanks.

AIDS Quilt in Ashland

maralove — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:01:48 GMT

Next month, at the end of November, from the 27th to the 30th, I and my internship site are bringing a portion of the AIDS quilt to SOU. It will be a week long viewing which will lead in to World AIDS Day on the 1st of December. The plan is to have speakers and an open mic for those who wish to address thier own experiences with HIV/AIDS as well as an evening opening where we will be hosting a lecture series and have an open mic/ poetry session as well. Additionally there will be a bank of quilters from a local guild who will be assisting people in making thier own panel for a quilt we are starting for the Rogue Valley. The RVQuilt will then be displayed in World AIDS day and the week following in the SU on campus. Ultimately, I am hoping for a fierce turnout and a lot of support from the community. Which means, naturally, that I am looking to Tribe and my friends, as well as the network at large, to participate in making this an event Ashland will be buzzing over. If anyone wants to be a participant as security or can see thier way to being a poet/lecturer with experience in the field and/or someone who can speak to this issue during the week following Thanksgiving, please contact me as I will see how we can work it. Thanks so much, in advance, for your consideration and care.

help

maralove — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 16:31:28 GMT

Please bookmark www.HelpIsabel.us and keep checking in to see how you can help out. Check in often and make this fly. edited to add that we are up and running.

Immediate

maralove — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:11:57 GMT

Vibes for Isabel as she undergoes the first of her surgeries. They are taking a bone marrow sample and installing a shunt into her chest. Vibes and love and prayers right now. Right. Now.

Message in a bottle

maralove — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:26:41 GMT

http://www.oceangram.com/ Open this link, sit and wait. Lovely things can come if you hang on and let it happen.

Grant writing

maralove — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 18:05:15 GMT

Anyone have a foolproof template for grant proposals? I need to get really busy at that in order to get the money flowing in our center.

excellent tribe to join

maralove — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:03:40 GMT

http://tribes.tribe.net/linebylinepoetry If you don't mind my saying so, this one kicks a** Give it a whirl... you won't be disappointed.

Why I love Michael Franti

maralove — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 19:03:14 GMT

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=71256192 Please, if you can, find a way to catch or host a viewing of this film. I saw it in November with Christopher and we couldn't stop talking about it for days. Franti was there for the show and I got to tell him how proud I am of all his work. Thankfully he calls Ashland his second home so I was privileged to get this chance to see and talk to him. Honestly, you will not regret a moment spent seeing this amazing testimony to why any war is utterly wrong.

wonder

maralove — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 18:37:50 GMT

I wonder at the faulty system of communication in words. How easily they are misinterpreted or are casually, sometimes caustically, used. I see people talking and I watch their bodies more than I hear them. But when you are limited to page and pen or screen and keys it makes for a strange realm of interpretability. Does anyone else feel like they are limited by words? That your feelings are things that can only be illustrated by action? And how do you cope with this when all you have are words?

poetry

maralove — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 16:12:06 GMT

I am part of my friend Eric's tribe Word Freaks and in that forum we have a process called Line By Line poetry. It was such a success that I decided to start a tribe exclusively for this art. Anyone who is reading this is welcome to join as well as spread the word. The more the merrier, I say. And the description will give you the tools to participate. So go ahead, what are you waiting for??? http://tribes.tribe.net/linebylinepoetry?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Bdac196a5-a291-4c3c-9d52-400edb44249d%5D

shifts

maralove — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:05:47 GMT

I spent the last few nights nursing a terrible wish for a spring thaw. I tried, with all my might, to conjure up at least a sense of warmth in the world. I lay on my bed thinking how lovely it would be to just be in the sunshine again. And then I realized, that come August, I would be wishing the reverse. So I have stopped wishing for weather. It is what it is. Then I thought of the change of weather with love and friendship. How the ebb and flow can be both confounding and wonderful. You love, they love, it works, it shifts, you change, they grow... it is what it is. But the most present of all is the wish for a peaceful time for all of us. And the resolution to accept what is unfolding as it does.

click and then sign

maralove — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 01:36:31 GMT

This link will take you to an impeach bush page... clip and sign after you print it. This ad ran in the SF Chron last week. Full page!!! Let's get on it! http://www.impeachbush.org/site/DocServer/NYT_IMPEACHBUSH_FINAL_3.pdf?docID=121&JServSessionIdr010=94dltz7ov2.app7b

war and peace marches

maralove — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 16:14:33 GMT

Yesterday over six million people worldwide protested the ongoing war in Iraq. My dear friend Robert, in LA, took a ton of photographs of the march in Hollywood. That pic is from the march. Rather than post the other pics, which are as poignant, I thought this one spoke volumes. I cannot say enough about how much I resent the ongoing funneling of our governmental funds into a war without end while all social and educational services are steadily depleted. It makes me sick to my stomach. So I will not ramble about it or rant. Rather I will ask you to repost this image wherever you can and let it speak for itself. Robert won't care. He wants to spread the sentiment, as do I.

Winter is getting to me

maralove — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 21:25:14 GMT

Fuggi Fuggi Fuggi by Giuseppino (Italian circa 1600) Fuggi fuggi fuggi da questo cielo asp're duro spietato e gielo tu ch'il tutto i prigioni e leghi ne per pianto ti frangi o pieghi fier tiranno giel dell'anno fuggi fuggi fuggi la dove il verno su le brine ha seggio eterno Vieni vieni candida vien vermiglia tu del mondo sei maraviglia tu nemica d'amare noie da ad anima delle gioie messaggiera per primeravera tu sei dell'anno la giovinezza tu del mondo sei la vaghezza. English translation: Flee, flee, flee from this sky, harsh and unyielding, relentless and freezing; you, who shackle all in prison neither bending nor breaking in tears. You, the year's cruel, frozen tyrant, flee, flee, flee to wherever the eternal winter places its throne over the frost. Come [flowers and blossoms], come white, come vermilion. You are a marvel for the world and the nemesis of all things dreary. Give joy to the soul through your message of spring. You are the youth of the year and the beauty of the world.

maralove — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:48:16 GMT

This comes from another member of tribe, a man who lives here in Ashland. I saw this and it resonated in me. But rather than linking you to his profile I thought to repost it here. I hope that someone gets what they need from this. Even if it is just me. "You are a worthy individual, no matter what your past, no matter what your thoughts, no matter who believes in you. You are life itself, growing and expanding and reaching upward. All people are valuable and beautiful and unique. Evey experience you have had was meant to teach you more about creating love in your life. There is a fine line between respecting the self and being selfish. Some of us feel we have every right to get angry at others because they hurt us. Honor the feelings of others, BUT do so in such a way that you also honor your own feelings. To accomplish this you will want to come from a high level of speaking and thinking. Speaking of your anger, yelling and screaming, only puts you in a power struggle with another person and closes both your hearts. When someone does something you do not life, oen your heart before you speak, If you choose to make a statement, offer it as a something you feel rather than something someone did. You can say, "I feel hurt", rather than "you hurt me". A powerful way to state it is, "I am CHOOSING to feel hurt." Every feeling you have you have chosen. Self-worth is knowing that you are choosing your feelings at every moment. When you communicate to other people in a way that honors theirs deeper being, you always feel better about yourself. You may have noticed that when you got something off your chest by expressing anger or hurt, you often felt worse afterwards. At the very least, there was a sense of incompletion. You cannot leave a situation until you have done so with love. Those situations you leave in anger will be there for you to resolve in the future. It may not be with the same person, but you will create another person and a similar situation to allow you to resolve it with peace and love." His native language is Spanish, but damn if he isn't eloquent in English as well.

Because some days you need to feel smarter than everyone else...

maralove — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 14:55:41 GMT

Brain Cramps Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," --Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest. `````````````````````````````````` "Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey ```````````` "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," --Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign. ````````````````````````````````````````````````` "I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," --Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward. ````````````````````````````````````````````` "Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC. ````````````````````````````` "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." --Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````` "That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas. ```````````````````````````` "Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark `````````````````````````````````` "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --Al Gore ``````````````````` "I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." --Dan Quayle `````````` "We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"--Lee Iacocca ``````````` "The word 'genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." --Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst. ```````````````````````````````````````````` "We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." --Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor. ````````````````````````````````` "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, President `````````````````` "We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore ```````````````` "Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery `````````````````````` "Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina ```````````````````````````````````````````` "If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Ali Farka Toure, rest in peace...

maralove — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 00:30:39 GMT

This is so sad... he truly did so much for Africa and for musicians everywhere. Pause and be still for a moment for this man and his amazing life. Obituary: Ali Farka Toure Ali Farka Toure, known as the "Bluesman of Africa", who has died of cancer, was one of the continent's best known musicians. Outside his home country of Mali, he was seen as blending African music with the blues of the southern United States and he collaborated with US stars Ry Cooder and John Lee Hooker. At his house in the capital, Bamako, a photo of a young Toure next to US rock star Jimi Hendrix was always proudly on display. Despite these influences and the cowboy hat he generally wore when performing, he always insisted that the music he played was authentically African, as were the origins of blues. His first instrument was the traditional Malian string instrument, the gurkel, but he later switched to the guitar. The haunting music he played though, stayed the same - conjuring up the slow movements of the River Niger as it sweeps through the Sahara desert near his home town of Niafunke. We would have dinner with him, and listen to him share his experiences, always with a laugh and smile Catherine Leila, Bamako He worked as a docker in Niafunke for the boats plying the River Niger before moving to the capital, Bamako to become a driver for Mali's national radio and television company, ORTM. But he always said ORTM refused to give him his big break by not backing his first album. Toure always said he owed his career to the BBC, which gave him his first international exposure in the 1980s, says Malian journalist Sadio Kante. Bleak environment Unlike many African music stars, he rejected the call of the bright lights of Paris, London or New York and always lived in Mali. When he won his first Grammy award, he even refused to travel to the United States to collect his prize, saying: "I don't know what a Grammy means but if someone has something for me, they can come and give it to me here in Niafunke, where I was singing when nobody knew me." He then threw himself into farming, fishing and raising cattle in his home town. Later, he became mayor of Niafunke in a bid to use some of his wealth and international connections for the good of his people. Sadio Kante says he was a generous man and later did his best to help launch Mali's next generation of artists. He was born in 1939 in the historic town of Timbuktu on the edge of the desert and tried to bring together the various communities who inhabit this bleak environment. While the Tuareg and Toure's Songhai people were at war in the 1990s, Toure sang in both their languages, as well as Fulani - another language of northern Mali. However, his appeal was largely limited to northern Mali and western blues fans. Younger residents of southern Mali and the capital, Bamako, are more likely to appreciate the latest US rap releases than his most famous albums, Talking Timbuktu and In the Heart of the Moon, which won Toure his two Grammy awards, respectively in 1994 and earlier this year. In the Heart of the Moon was a collaboration with another famous Malian musician, Toumani Diabate. However, only Diabate was able to go to a special reception laid on by President Amadou Toumani Toure in their honour. Toure the musician was already on his death bed, battling cancer. He leaves a widow and 11 children. His record label, World Circuit, however, says that he had just finished work on a new solo album so his final musical legacy is still to be heard. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4782506.stm Published: 2006/03/07 16:45:15 GMT © BBC MMVI