My Blog

New Tattoo!! and Olivia in Washington! and Bali!

oliviaofdoom — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:37:35 GMT

I just got a new tattoo last night, and I wanted to share pictures with you. Check out my new album. It's inspired by traditional filipino designs, and most of it means inner journey, among other things. It took about an hour to finish. Here's the website of the guy who did the work: http://seventhsontattoo.com/Orly/orly_tats.htm# There are more pics in my pics section. I also just added a pic of my new haircut, although it's longer now. I also wanted to tell y'all that i will be in Redmond, WA the weekend of July 12 and 13. From July 14 until July 18 I'll be in Bellingham, WA. On the night of July 18 I'll be going to Bali for two weeks! I'm going as part of an "integrated arts and culture" program through the center for world music. http://centerforworldmusic.org/tours/2008/ac_wshp08.html It's designed for teachers, and we learn balinese art culture dance theatre with the intention of using the ideas in our lesson plans when we get back. I am SOOOOO excited. I get back on Saturday August 9, and I'm supposed to go out to the black rock desert the next day. Whoo hoo. Anyway, if you're in the Pacific Northwest and can spare a trip up to see me, I'd LOOOOVE it.

Snow on the Playa! (Snow at the Ranch Part 2)

oliviaofdoom — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:29:15 GMT

As I was laying in bed last night, I continued to reflect on my Work Weekend experience. I didn't mention a couple things before that I wanted to but forgot. :) On Saturday, while we were working, there was a huuuge white out. Not just on playa, EVERYWHERE. Even in Gerlach. It was insane! It looked like fog, but it totally wasn't. It looked like the whole span of playa was on fire. If it's this bad now, I wonder how bad it will be in the summer... This following is a continuation of my last blog post about cleaning out the office basement: When we were done with the office, fox and i went to Empire to get some PBR. Driving to Empire and back to the Ranch, even with the large amounts of dirt in the bed of the truck (we were messing up the suspension!), the wind was whipping us around! It was scary. When we got back to the Ranch, we left the mud in the truck overnight, in the freezing weather. The next morning, we had to dump the mud and use shovels to chip it apart since it was almost frozen solid. We took the dirt in the truck to the perimeter of the ranch. This is where the MOOP from all the previous years' burns were. It was amazing to see all the stuff still out there! Kinda gross. We dumped the junk out there. I was using a shovel to hit the mud really really hard. I made a comment about being clumsy, and fox agreed. So, playfully, I say "Copy That, Clumsy"...and she says "You have been named!" haha. So I guess my new playa name is: Copy That Clumsy. Or, Clumsy. Or, CTC. :) After this, we had to go back to the office to clean it up. On the way from the Ranch to the office, fox took us on a secret road. We used the DPW entrance on the playa and drove really really fast across the playa until we got to town. It was soooo fun! It was hard following a silver car through thick playa. Haha. Driving really fast on the playa is so awesome, almost as exciting and liberating as peeing on the playa. :) Overall, it was an really awesome weekend. The snow on the playa, as brief as it was, about topped it off, too.

Snow at the Ranch!

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:59:30 GMT

I just got back from the first DPW Work Weekend of the 2008 season. I keep telling people I won't be DPW-ing this year because I'm going to Bali, but I have been convinced otherwise. It's one thing for my peers to tell me to do it, but it's another thing when the "supervisors" have a word with me. That's what happened, so, I'm coming back [same deal as last year, work until i have to prep for school]. Not like it took too much to convince me. :) So, back to the Work Weekend...It was freakin COLD. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees on Saturday night...I was about to freeze in my car, in my 10 degree sleeping bag. I also had to pee so bad in the middle of the night and ended up peeing in a cup left over from when I ate a Subway sandwich. That was more information than you probably wanted, but that's okay. There was a quaint dusting of snow in the morning but it quickly melted. By the time I left at noon (from the office, the story will come...) it was snowing a little. It snowed while I was driving, too, but not too much. Look at the pictures I posted, there was snow on the mountains around the Ranch. I don't think I got sunburnt as much as I got cold wind burnt. Either way, my face still hurts. Not too much though. I saw fox, logan, padawan, starchild, insane, zair ian, garth, quinn, D.A., playground, lexi, and a couple other people I've met before. I met a whole mess of new awesome people, and I'm excited to hang out with them more. For the Work Weekend, I got to work with fox, Perky (first time DPW), Zack (first time DPW), and wheels (first time burner). I volunteered to work at the office, which I thought meant paperwork and easy stuff. Boy, was I wrong. In the past 60 or more years the office building has been around, the basement has not been cleaned out. There was flooding this year, as in other years, but this time, the pump was not working. They are afraid that the office basement will rot out, so they needed the basement to be completely cleared out. Sound easy? It wasn't. There were shelves, old stuff dating from the 1940s to today, dirt, wood, metal, and all other random pieces of junk. It took 2 truckloads and a whole huge trailer full of junk to clean it out. Doesn't sound so bad yet, does it? Take into account that the water has been soaking all the junk down there for months, maybe even years. Things started decomposing, and smelling rotten. Mold was growing, and things were really really slimy. I think there was even poopy water down there. We went shovel full by shovel full, bucket by bucket, up the freakin basement stairs, out the door, into the trucks. It could have taken 2 or 3 days easy, but we got it done right quick. One day. We got treats for doin it, but man, was that a gross job. I wore a respirator down in the basement since I'm allergic to mold, and that was the least of my worries down there. :) Anyway. It was a great first Work Weekend for this season! I can't wait to get back there. Memorial Day weekend, probably.

so this is the new year...

oliviaofdoom — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:05:17 GMT

and i don't feel any different.... (ya know that death cab song...) Well, that's a lie. i feel totally different, and a lot better. First off, I want to tell you how thankful I am to have so many awesome people in my life. Sometimes I think i don't tell people enough. Next thing, I want to tell you how awesome two week winter vacations are. teehee. I absolutely love being a teacher, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. After the vacation my mental and emotional approach was different. I'm able to deal with more and be more calm about it. I've introduced new concepts regarding how to think about our subject matter, and I actually think the kids are getting it. I had my first sixth grade girl gossip situation...you know, adolescents with their "my friends say that she said blah blah blah...but i didn't say that about her...i don't know who to believe blah blah blah" stuff. And they wanted me to mediate for them. I asked what happened, and i'm like "that's it?!" ...luckily the school counselor came to help me out, and that helped. At the end of the day, these girls were friends again. silly adolescents. :) I don't wear glasses anymore (i wear these contacts through the night that reshape the surface of my eye and i take them off during the day and i see 20/20 and just put them back on before i go to sleep...like a retainer for my eye). I'm getting used to not having to look through external lenses to see. and not try to push up my glasses when they're not there. One reason i did this is because ike I posted earlier, I made the decision and started kickboxing. I started on Wednesday Jan 2 and have been going every other day since then. Well, for the first half week and the whole second week i went MWF...starting my third week (second whole week) I went MWF and Saturday. It's only been a month, but I feel and can see my body changing. It feels awesome to be doing something physical and exercise-y again. For the past couple years I haven't worked out regularly because my schedule has been so weird. Now that I have a grown up job with a normal (meaning not retail) schedule, being in shape and healthy is more of a priority. I start my SJSU classes this coming tuesday, so we'll see how my body does with kickboxing MWFS and classes Tuesday and Thursday. My classes for my credential are the only things in my schedule that make things difficult, but I have to deal with those for a whole other school year. I'm used to it by now. So, why start exercising when I'm pretty busy? I'm happier doing it. I don't deal with stress well if I'm not doing something physical and/or exercising. Let me tell ya, kickboxing is a great stress relief...and...I'm getting in shape. One of these days, I want to try to really fight in the ring, but not for another 6 months to a year. I'm still trying to get used to getting hit. i'm not so good with defense yet, in all my other martial arts training i never got hit at...i only did the hitting. but it's only been a month, right. I'm not expecting any miracles with my training, but I'll work as hard as my body allows. my legs have gotten more definition back, my arms too. when i flex my arm i can see my deltoid and the outline of my triceps...but i still have that arm fat (you know, wings...lol), which i'll have for a while. I've made friends with a few really good people to train with, to get trained by, and to watch...so being at the gym I'm at puts me in great company. i train at american kickboxing academy in san jose, a gym that has bred more than its fair share of UFC fighters. I just met a burner who is a professional fighter (they are few and far between, let me tell ya)...she actually left a note on my car after seeing my DPW stickers and other burning man paraphernalia. i called her and found out who she was...she's pretty hard core, a little bit frightening how tough she is. i hope she doesn't kick my ass. haha. she's cool though, and we're gonna do burner activities as much as possible. I rarely get back to san francisco anymore, and for those of you up there, i do apologize. I want to see you all, please believe me. Being a first year teacher (and going to school to learn how to do it at the same time) is definitely one of the hardest things i've ever done in my life. It's all worth it. I was up during new year's...but with a couple of my best mates. I hope to make it up to san francisco for a few parties soon. Now, I must put a quick and not very smooth end to this post and say good bye! LOVE

kickboxing and jiu jitsu, anyone?

oliviaofdoom — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:25:30 GMT

I've made the decision. After Christmas, I'm going to start training in kickboxing and jiu jitsu. I think it's time. I want to get my ass kicked and get my body in shape. I want the stress relief. I am 95% sure I won't ever compete (let's face it, I don't really like to get hit...but then again...I never really have gotten hit before...hmmm....all the other martial arts I've done were no contact...hmm...)...but I wouldn't mind being a sparring partner or something. At least I'll get all my aggression out at the gym instead of at my 6th graders. :) I wanna start training here: http://akakickbox.com/index.htm Who wants to come?

finally an update! (kinda)

oliviaofdoom — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 04:23:32 GMT

I just chaperoned a middle school dance...and i actually danced! it was passable. i'm loving teaching, i'm startin to lay down the law more. middle school is definitely where i want to be for now. being a teacher is definitely what i'm supposed to do. some of my students are trying to add me as a friend on myspace, that's why i had to make my profile private. okay, so it's not much of an update, but that's all i'm writing anyway. for now. :) please let me know if you want to hang out

burning man. gosh

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 07:31:44 GMT

so...i did the DPW thing for a week then started teaching 6th grade. which is going AWESOME by the way. and then... I just got back from the playa. I went to burning man just for the weekend. i'm pretty incoherent. funny story, though. i got there friday night around 11. My gate/greeter experience went smoothly, thanks to the DPW decals on my doors. i went to the heebeegeebee healers space to find my burning man family, and it went a lot smoother than i had thought it would. i waited for everyone else to come home, and asleep we went. the next day was the DPW parade. I didn't think i was going to go anywhere but stay at HBGB, but off i went with cricket. i saw all my buddies, and party armada came and fed and massaged and watered us with various libations. it was good to see everyone, i missed them all. i had a bit too much to drink, and we were out in the sun all day...the parade went a long time, and after a while people just started getting all drunk and "affectionate" with each other. when we got back to the depot, i was looking for my friends to tell them i was going home (meaning back to the HBGBs)...but...i accidentally wandered into the meeting for working the perimeter of the man burn to make sure the hippies didn't try to run through too soon and get toasted. i was in the right place at the right time, b/c it was an amazing experience. although i was confused as to everything i had to do, i had front row seats to the fire dancers and fire performers and fire spinners. i was supposed to be working, like keeping perimeter, but it was so hard to do my job when every single fire performer was freakin hot as hell. anyway, i did the DPW parade and man burn perimeter by happenstance. not bad, if i shall say so myself. and today my buddy cricket and i left...before that i had a thai massage and a really awesome chiropractic session. it took 2 and a half hours to get out of Black Rock City, i shit you not. it was LAME! but oh well. they do the best they can. it's a bummer that i'll only be able to come back for the weekend of the burn for a while with the teaching thing goin on. i'll stick to my 2 work weekends, DPW, burning man tourist weekend instead. that was my 4th time to the playa this year. that's insane. anyway, i'm freakin tired and i'm going to bed.

back from the playa!

oliviaofdoom — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:42:26 GMT

i just got back (early of course) from doing DPW. I posted some pictures already, but here are the rest: http://picasaweb.google.com/o.g.sawi/DPW2007 i came back early b/c of that job thing. you know, responsibilities. haha. It's going to be REALLY dusty this year. the playa didn't freeze over like it's supposed to, so there's a LOT of loose piles of playa EVERYWHERE. from 10:00 to 6:00 it's pretty hard...however on the 2:00 side, it's pretty soft. And...the streets go up to L this year. HUGE! It's dusty enough with just DPW out there. I can't even imagine how it's gonna be with 50,000 plus people.

to the playa! DPW away!

oliviaofdoom — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:00:57 GMT

At 6:30a wednesday i leave for the playa. i go pick up cricket in san fran then serra in grass valley. i put my roof rack on, packed up my car, and everything. i'm so stoked. this will be the last vacation i will have for a LOOOOONG time. When i get back, it's work work work! gotta get ready for the new school year.

i got a teaching gig!!

oliviaofdoom — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:10:55 GMT

As of August of 27, I will be a 6th grade core teacher. That means, i teach english/language arts and social studies. http://www.berryessa.k12.ca.us/schools/sierra/index.htm yay me! :)

pinkberry, jewish delis, battlestar galactica...

oliviaofdoom — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:05:11 GMT

i went to LA this last weekend and visited Coral. she has such an awesome studio in silver lake! it's like, artsy LA. if i were to live in LA, it would be in Silver Lake. i got there friday night at like 11, and we went to a jewish deli. then, we went to sleep. on saturday morning, we went to a farmer's market and got some fruit and snacks. i also got a hat. brad pitt/justin timberlake-esque, i admit, but i needed some kind of flare. it's the hat in my new pictures. we ate breakfast at some cute cafe and then we went back to coral's place. She took a nap while i watched a couple tv pilots then we watched battlestar galactica. i hadn't ever watched battlestar galactica before, and now, i'm addicted. haha we then took our showers and she got ready for brigetta's wedding. on the way to brigetta's wedding, coral dropped me off at Brittanny's house. it was really nice to see britt...we went to a jewish deli (surprise surprise) for lunch, and for desert we went to pinkberry...and then we went to burbank to go to a kwik-e-mart. pinkberry is sometimes called "crackberry" by LA people. it's this really awesome frozen yogurt that actually tastes like yogurt. there are only 2 flavors, but you choose fruit toppings. the kwik-e-marts are a la the simpsons. they did over a bunch of 7-11s to be like the kwik-e-marts in the simpsons. they have donuts, squishees, other stuff in kwik-e-marts. there was a line to get in. needless to say, it was a pretty good marketing scheme. after the kwik-e-mart, we went back to britt's house to get stuff...then we went to a bbq. britt's friend tiffanny was there too, she was cool. the bbq was nice. coral picked me up from the house the bbq was at, then we went to her uncle's bday party on the way home. we did stuff there, and went home and slept. on sunday morning, we went to los feliz and were going to go to this uppity cafe named alcove for brunch, but instead went to another less uppity cafe named home. after that i got pinkberry again and went back to coral's house to get ready to go to the airport. however, coral's car wouldn't start. it sucked. after various attempts, we called a taxi. the taxi cab was this former russian pilot...he was fun to talk to. i was afraid i'd be late, but i got to the airport really fast, and the security line went fast. and, the plane was late. so, i was fine. after i got home, i rested, then my dad and i went to work out. it was a good weekend. :)

didgeridooooo

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:57:25 GMT

my dad and bro just got back from australia and they brought me a didgeridoo. i'm soooo excited. i'm trying to figure out how to play it. it sounds fine, i'm just figuring out how to do all the cool sounds...and eventually, circular breathing. i also didn't go to pride this weekend...it was a hard choice, but i was exhausted. I slept all saturday instead, and man, it felt good. today i watched freedom writers with my family, it was inspiring. we also watched dreamgirls, it was less inspiring, let's just say. haha. now, my family is watching enter the dragon, always a favorite. oh yeah, last night, BJ Penn beat Jens Pulver. hooray!

oh dear me...

oliviaofdoom — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 14:02:05 GMT

it's early sunday morning and i'm awake. i couldn't sleep last night...could be the chocolate i ate just before laying down. could be the fact i slept all day. could be i couldn't stop my brain. i'm stressing about this coming school year, plain and simple. i can't do much about it right now, i know, but it's on my brain constantly. i get my own class this coming fall, and i'm totally freakin out. but it's okay...i'd be more worried if i wasn't anxious. it seems like i only start thinking about it before i go to sleep... what am i thinking about? -how am i going to run a class of kids? -are they gonna listen to me? -what am i doing? -will i implode? stuff like that. ::sigh:: at times i also think i'm a bit lonely. but then i snap out of that one. i really don't have time for relations right now, which sorta sucks. but then again i don't want to put any effort into the whole 'dating scene'. I'm not good at it anyway...my friends tell me i should have more confidence, i just go "blah". it's my selfish time...but i always still want to meet good people. i've really begun to re-evaluate my relationships...myself to other individuals, myself to groups. I haven't been to the city for a while. I have class in the evening, that's one of the main reasons. another is for self preservation. I am concentrating all my energy on school and teaching. It's important. One step closer to ruling the world. I miss BMHQ, I miss FLG, I miss the parties. I miss my friends. i'm still awake. i started cleaning my room. then i laid down again. now i'm typing. it's 7am...have to start doing stuff by 10. then i'll sleep again. next time i'll have my notebook out so i can write down all my ideas. i already wanna sleep again after getting this stuff out of my head. Shoulda thought of that earlier. i'm going to the gym later today. and i'm going to get a punching bag. i like hitting things...things that don't hit back. my brain is shutting down slowly... sleeeeeppppppppppp

yay bjork

oliviaofdoom — Sun, 20 May 2007 07:42:20 GMT

bjork was fun. the set was too short, alas we were at shoreline where there is a sound curfew.\ methinks i was way too sober for the whole thing. it was fun either way. and i saw a couple people i knew. it was especially nice to see calli there. :)

my first pyrotechnics show...

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:06:14 GMT

This saturday i did my very first pyrotechnics show with Pyrospectaculars. I am SOOOO hooked. It was for Our Lady of the Rosary in Union City. It was really hot outside, but the payoff was magnificent. SOOOOO hooked! I can't wait for the next show!

who's afraid of virginia woolf...

oliviaofdoom — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 02:46:59 GMT

on wednesday night i watched "Who's afraid of virginia woolf" with kathleen turner and bill irwin. it was AMAZING. i remember in college watching video of bill irwin's clowning stuff. man, they are immense in this show. it made me remember why i went to school for theatre. it's playing at the golden gate theatre, kinda sketchy area, and pretty expensive. but man, is it worth it. i went with mr. christensen (len) and a nice young UK boy named Jake. something is shifting in my life... i can feel it. it's positive, but i know i'm sailing into some uncharted territory really soon. after a period of rest, i think i'm beginning to restart my world domination. complete, and utter domination. and man, will it be FUN.

best haiku EVER

oliviaofdoom — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 21:47:16 GMT

i saw a haiku on amber/makeoutqueen's t-shirt at the BM Open House yesterday. This is the haiku: Haikus are easy But sometimes they don't make sense Refrigerator It made me smile. I think i have to get it. :) too bad i don't write i'd make and sell my own shirts best haiku EVER hahahaha

eyes closed on the freeway

oliviaofdoom — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:50:24 GMT

i started my monthly cycle yesterday and on the late night drive home i had a massive mood swing. i had a great afternoon, the girls took me to the great mall to go shopping (they're trying to girl-ify me) and i picked up holly from the airport. I drove her to RA's house then i hung out with some other people...and i was exhausted. I was really tired and had a mood swing... so I played a game. How long can I drive on 280 with my eyes closed? It was like playing chicken with myself. And then I snapped out of it. Especially when my CHECK ENGINE light turned on. I'm in a transition period of my life. I'm moving forward, but at right now at a still point. I have to remember to stay equanimous (I miss Vipassana), and to let go of any attachments I have established. I have a long weekend ahead of me... Yuri's Night tomorrow night... BM Open House from 10a-3p Ocean Beach Burn Pit Dedication 7:45p-onward And then... Taxes on Sunday!!! whoo!!! Gimmie a call, I'll be around.

olivia hearts fireworks.

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:10:27 GMT

i went to a fireworks training seminar on Saturday. i think i'm in love. :-p It was really informative, now I just have to get on a crew and do stuff. We got to shoot off 3" shells manually, it was like firing a cannon. it was an adrenaline rush! hooray for pyrotechnics!!!

summer job search. gah.

oliviaofdoom — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:51:25 GMT

i need to find a summer job. Up until burning man. anyone have any ideas?! gah. I can only work MWF. i refuse to work retail days/horus anymore. I guess it's away to summer camps with me!! unless someone can save me. :) O

beach. seattle. musings on life.

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 08:02:21 GMT

i'm really exhausted, so this blog post contains many short sentences. kind of like communicating with grunts and clicks. haha. today was another beach cleanup. it was awesome. the ocean beach foundation was there too and there was music until 8p. A little early, alas it is a sunday. It was such an amazingly beautiful day out. Perfect beach weather. Awesome people. i love seeing the friends i've made at these events. i heart my friends. today i got to play with the incinerators...i mean TEND the incinerators. Burning charcoal to smaller pieces of burnt stuff is fun. I think I got a little cooked, it was really hot. They let me play with fire. You should be afraid. :) I got off the phone with a friend recently and talked about my seattle trip, among other things of course. Seattle was fun, ryan and michelle are super duper. it was good to see all my friends. i had a fight with jim beam, however, it ended in a massive headache. when ya make out with jim beam, he tends to beat you up. it was good to see my friends, at the same time, it was kinda hard. seeing friends in the same place, even a few steps backwards, in life as they were when i left a year ago makes my heart ache. even though, i saw people (and doggies) i really missed, and love knowing are in my life. [and now, the serious thoughtful part of the blog post] i have been single for a year, now. wait a second...did that other "thing" count?...hang on...no, it didn't. it's been a year. lolol. anyway. being single is totally awesome, don't get me wrong. i've had a lot of time to think things through and get myself in a good place. and right now, i'm in an awesome place in my life. i want to meet someone capitvating. i want to meet someone who i don't get bored with, even if just sitting around watching tv. i think i deserve to meet someone awesome. i haven't really put too much effort into it latey, so i guess that's my deal. ha. i'm not much of a dater, though. ::sigh:: oh, who am i kidding, i wanna get laid. lolol. it's been like since september. in all seriousness, i wanna meet someone amazing. but don't we all. i think i'll write a song about it. i don't really like lyrics, but i can get angsty enough to write something. my friend has a band and i might sing in it. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=158356599 yeah, it's "hard rock", but i can be angry enough to do it. it's all about performing. and i can pull that sh-t. gosh, i have to teach kids in the morning. in 9 hours, actually. i'm going to sleep.

lyrics, anyone?

oliviaofdoom — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:05:24 GMT

hello! my buddy is in a "hard rock" band and they need lyrics. anyone wanna take a stab? http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=158356599 has a few demo songs. i'll be attempting to sing/scream in the band. :) O

FLG burns Fort Mason!

oliviaofdoom — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:03:35 GMT

Just kidding. Myself and a few other Flaming Lotus Girls gave a presentation to the Metal Arts Guild this past Sunday. (is it "passed sunday" or "past sunday" ? ) the Metal Arts Guild!! pretty sweet, eh? We talked about FLG and our experiences. I think they liked us. Here are some pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=9h53720.5h4na9ms&x=0&y=-gwjxtp We spent basically the whole day at Fort Mason, but that's awesome because it was a beautiful day. Our fire demo got approved right away, and everyone spoke very eloquently. Unlike my writing. :) I heart propane.

sweet weekend

oliviaofdoom — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:03:53 GMT

wow, i haven't posted here for a while. if you wanna see what i've been up to, and it's been a lot, go to http://blog.myspace.com/oliviaofdoom so...i had a very chill weekend, i loved it. All friday long, bri(an) and i ran errands, then met up with caty and hit cafe gratitude. brian and i went to this diner in the morning for breakfast, hit up urban farmer to look for hula hooping supplies, got a wheelbarrow, went to marshall's, got mulch, and hit cafe gratitude. then i went home and bummed around. on saturday i worked at REI then went to a teacher "field trip". we ate and drank and talked, it was way fun. Way fun until 3am. :) Sunday i ate waffles and went back to sleep, woke up around 4p the second time around, and got a call from Rachel. I picked her up to go to Ra's bonfire on ocean beach in san fran. I took Rachel to feel real, which was nice. We then went to the bonfire. it was nice to see the people who mean a lot to me. Rachel's friend Spence came by and hung out, too. On the way back to my car we all hitched a ride in his truck...I then found out he's dating Maria!! WEIRD. It was a nice chill weekend. Now i have to study. For the GRE. And various other standardized tests. Gah.

olivia and vipassana!

oliviaofdoom — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:18:41 GMT

March 19, 2006 “You never step in the same river twice…” So…I just came back from my first Vipassana experience, and I, too, am not quite the same. I actually just got back an hour ago, and I started writing after checking some emails. This is my first decompression. There maybe more. I had a chance to sit with my mind for 10 days. I didn’t know how I would react to ten days of noble silence (no communication verbal or non-verbal), no physical contact, and 10 hours of meditation per day. Not to mention the sittings of strong determination. Let’s just say that at first, I thought I was in hell. The first three days were hard, and it only got harder. I had a thought to leave every single day, but the thought never stayed long. It snowed on and off for those first days, and the weather seemed to reflect my experience. However, by the seventh night, by the light of the full moon and melting snows, I began to experientially understand. I was learning an art of living thick in morality (sila), mastery of the mind (samahdi), and wisdom (panna). I began experiencing this art, and now, I am to put it to use. The work begins now, every moment. Goenkaji, the teacher, is an amazing being. His discourses made me smile, made me think, helped me to understand. He teaches that we are all our own masters, and have to live as such. I knew this intellectually, but at the experiential level, I began to realize even more. My happiness and love has multiplied, and I believe that it will be in a purer form. No more craving, no more aversion. Everything changes. When we could start talking to each other again, I realized how amazing all these beings that I shared space and meditation time were. The voices were so loud in my head, I had to go outside the hall. I fully intend to keep in touch with those I’ve met. This description of my experience is a bit scattered, as I’ve just begun to process it all. Go to http://www.dhamma.org …see if this is for you. It doesn’t cost anything, they ask you to donate at the end as much as you think it’s worth, or as much as you can give. They also ask for service, which I was glad to give. I want to share this experience with you…I encourage you to experience this for yourself. Begin walking the path of dhamma, the path to liberation, the path to true happiness. If you have questions, let me know. I’d be glad to talk to you about this. Love, Light, and Liberation, Olivia