when synapses fire...

I have a dream

solo_yo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:15:07 GMT

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivering his 'I Have a Dream' speech from the steps of Lincoln Memorial. (photo: National Park Service) In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

from an email....something to think about

solo_yo — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:42:08 GMT

This one goes beyond the simple competition of election; as a thought exercise, it illustrates difference in standards and entrenched stereotypes very well. Nov 4 is soon. Vote Thoughtfully. Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?....think about it. Would the country's collective point of view be different? Ponder the following: What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter? What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee? What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident? What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married? What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to painkillers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization? What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.) What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker? What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter? What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing planes? What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution? You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

Sometimes...

solo_yo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:52:34 GMT

I fucking hate people....yes, i said it. me little ol me... and hate is such a strong word...truly. not to be taken lightly. Yesterday morning my car got egged. So I go to get in the car to take my brother to work, eight thirty in the morning on a sunday and there is disgusting , probably-salmonella-laden raw eggs all over the side of my car. nasty, let me say that again... another way that accurately represents it from the perspective of an undiagnosed potentially germophobic individual.....semi dried slimy-stuck-to-the-car and window, adhered-eggshells and all to the side of my car and handle raw eggs' spooge. yuck! I grabbed some bottled water and an old dreamtime tshirt that was rejected for being too dirty and cleaned it off.... and that started my day. I don't get the random acts of violence. It isn't funny to me, it isn't cool... the first words out of my mouth were " huh I wonder what I did to someone?" and then I thought "it isn't about me, it is about the car"... and then... this is a random act of violence... destruction of property... what would make someone choose m-y car if they didn't know me( it is a nondescript kind of car, no coolness points whatsoever 30 + miles tot he gallon... you can imagine) and I think about what constitutes irrational behavior. i am generally a law abiding citizen, I don't drive much over the speed limit, go out of my way ( usually) to yield the right-of-way, don't cut people off, nor honk without a damn good reason. Seriously, I have honked my car horn less than 5 times in 8 years. and it pisses me off when the ghetto fabulous neighbors use the horn as a fucking doorbell. i generally try to see the good in people, and believe that I have more in common with most people than I have found to be true, and try not to subscribe to compounding negative thinking that snowballs into a hateful mean spiteful and mistrusting place. and I wonder how a fairly normal, kind individual is driven to a place where she might consider homicide if someone were to be caught within 100 yards of her car with a raw egg in hand.... this merits a moment of reflection for my shadow self.

this morning

solo_yo — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:08:54 GMT

I am thinking about my friends that have dared to follow their bliss. they have moved away from their hometown, become gypsies( not really) and made great sacrifices. and I wonder if they are happy with their choices. I have chosen a different path. I have chosent o be here. and stay. I don't know if it was an act of cowardice on my part or something else. they have chosen to shake their wings out and fly, and I have chose to remain grounded. some people have roots and some people have wings. i guess that 's true. I have always thought myself as one of the winged creatures.

The Invitation - Oriah Mountain Dreamer

solo_yo — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:28:12 GMT

The Invitation It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful to be realistic to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes.” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. from the book The Invitation

Dreamtime 08, and back in kansas city

solo_yo — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:39:38 GMT

still trying to catch up on sleep... can you believe that? Dreamtime 08 had much to teach me ,and this young grasshopper has much to learn in this life. here's a synopsis of the lessons: always bring your own food... beauty is where you look for it.. calm is better.. calm is better... sometime s it is better to get back to your roots to regroup and then head out to accomplish your goals... I actually need three people to do my job, so that it can be done well.... the body needs sleep... and there are times in this life in which people that you have known to be one way can do a complete 180 and become more than you have ever dreamed of.... oh, and i love my husband, for being my strength and my voice of reason. that is all for now, but will touch base with you all later.kim chi

exerpts from dreamtime

solo_yo — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:21:47 GMT

from dolphin ( one of our newest rockstars) Aloha everyone and thank you for reading. I'm up in Paonia as part of the team, building yurts and preparing the land for the festival starting on the 17th. This promises to be a remarkable, magical gathering and to make it happen, we're calling out to you, our high-vibration community, for volunteers to come out and build with us. In exchange for your precious time, energy and dreamtime vibes, we will provide your food while you set up (not during the event), ticket reimbursement at the completion of your shift (email for details), and the opportunity to participate in this evolutionary journey as one of the crew. What we're looking for: Pre-event: As soon as you can get here :) 10 beings to participate in building yurts, stages, and various other gathering places Event time, to arrive on the 16th (for training), or 17th. General volunteers, plus specific postions for Placement (grounds control), and Rangers, who walk around the event, providing assistance with whatever comes up. These are not positions of authority, but rather an invitation to dream with us, bringing your personal vision and energy to share with us, your new Dreamtime family, from behind the scenes. This land is powerful and warm with a front-row view of mountain ranges, magestic elk and wide-open skies. It's a perfect place to dance your dream. If you're interested or know someone who might be, please email Kim at volunteer@dreamthefuture.org Be sure to check out the website Come Dream With Us www.dreamthefuture.org

hmmmm

solo_yo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:41:22 GMT

February 24, 2008 My Favorite Liar [the following recounts an exceptionally powerful teaching technique employed by an economics professor of mine at university; teaching fact-checking and skepticism by salting it into the content of his delivery] One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar. I guess that statement requires a bit of explanation. The topic of Corporate Finance/Capital Markets is, even within the world of the Dismal Science, a exceptionally dry and boring subject matter, encumbered by complex mathematic models and obscure economic theory. What made Dr. K memorable was a gimmick he employed that began with his introduction at the beginning of his first class: "Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures ... one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in the Lie of the Day." And thus began our ten-week course. This was an insidiously brilliant technique to focus our attention - by offering an open invitation for students to challenge his statements, he transmitted lessons that lasted far beyond the immediate subject matter and taught us to constantly checksum new statements and claims with what we already accept as fact. Early in the quarter, the Lie of the Day was usually obvious - immediately triggering a forest of raised hands to challenge the falsehood. Dr. K would smile, draw a line through that section of the board, and utter his trademark phrase "Very good! In fact, the opposite is true. Moving on ... " As the quarter progressed, the Lie of the Day became more subtle, and many ended up slipping past a majority of the students unnoticed until a particularly alert person stopped the lecture to flag the disinformation. Every once in a while, a lecture would end with nobody catching the lie which created its own unique classroom experience - in any other college lecture, end of the class hour prompts a swift rush of feet and zipping up of bookbags as students make a beeline for the door; on the days when nobody caught the lie, we all sat in silence, looking at each other as Dr. K, looking quite pleased with himself, said with a sly grin: "Ah ha! Each of you has one falsehood in your lecture notes. Discuss amongst yourselves what it might be, and I will tell you next Monday. That is all." Those lectures forced us to puzzle things out, work out various angles in study groups so we could approach him with our theories the following week. Brilliant ... but what made Dr. K's technique most insidiously evil and genius was, during the most technically difficult lecture of the entire quarter, there was no lie. At the end of the lecture in which he was not called on any lie, he offered the same challenge to work through the notes; on the following Monday, he fielded our theories for what the falsehood might be (and shooting them down "no, in fact that is true - look at [x]") for almost ten minutes before he finally revealed: "Do you remember the first lecture - how I said that 'every lecture has a lie?'" Exhausted from having our best theories shot down, we nodded. "Well - THAT was a lie. My previous lecture was completely on the level. But I am glad you reviewed your notes rigorously this weekend - a lot of it will be on the final. Moving on ... " Which prompted an rousing melange of exasperated groans and laughter from the classroom. And while my knowledge of the Economics of Capital Markets has faded in time, the lessons that stayed with me was his real legacy; I've had many instructors before and since, but few that I remember with as much fondness - and why my favorite professor was a chronic liar. Posted by Kai Chang at 06:00 AM in Humor, Meta, Standard Biases | Permalink addendum: There's a good chance Dr. K was inspired by Neil Postman, who wrote in a 1995 essay (The Error of our ways): "All that is necessary is that at the beginning of each course, the teacher address students in the following way: During this term, I will be doing a great deal of talking. I will be giving lectures, answering questions, and conducting discussions. Since I am an imperfect scholar and, even more certainly, a fallible human being, I will inevitably be making factual errors, drawing some unjustifiable conclusions, and perhaps passing along my opinions as facts. I should be very unhappy if you were unaware of these mistakes. To minimize that possibility, I am going to make you all honorary members of Accuracy in Academia. Your task is to make sure that none of my errors goes by unnoticed. At the beginning of each class, I will, in fact, ask you to reveal whatever errors I made in the previous session. You must, of course, say why these are errors, indicate the source of your authority, and, if possible, suggest a truer or more useful or less biased way of formulating what I said. Your grade in this course will be based to some extent on the rigor with which you pursue my mistakes. And to ensure that you do not fall into the torpor that is so common among students, I will, from time to time, deliberately include some patently untrue statements and some outrageous opinions. There is no need for you to do this alone. You should consult with your classmates, perhaps even form a study group that can collectively review the things I have said. Nothing would please me more than for one or several of you to ask for class time in which to present a corrected or alternative version of one of my lectures." http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/02/my-favorite-lia.html

i am sending out a wish for the unity of this moment

solo_yo — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:17:50 GMT

and all of you are here to witness the magnification of our joy. I am pleased to announce that i am now a happily married woman. Chango and I had a beautiful secret ceremony in a tiny little chapel on Christmas eve. Alonzo was , and always will be my best man:) the inner sanctum found out first... and now( almost 6 months has passed) I am in the midst of redefining myself and making the *me* a *we*. it is beautiful and messy, ....just how I like it. I love you guys and am happy that you bear witness to this rite of passage.k

surfacing

solo_yo — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:29:54 GMT

right now I find myself wearing my heart on my sleeve. I almost cried twice while listening to npr today. the world's problems seem so incredible in their proportions sometimes, and here I sit with enough food, well too much food and bitch about those extra 10 pounds that I am carrying around... i heard the story of the lost boys of Sudan who have no one because their entire families have been killed. they do not have any records of their birth, no living relatives, and no paperwork. they are simply shuffled from one place to another... and one of them who had been a refugee for 19 years wrote a song for a relief worker named Emma. she was the person who to taught him to feel. before that, he had lost so much that emotion was a luxury that he could not afford. and now he makes hip hop, african style. when asked about his message,he said that he walked into a church and heard a concert for free, and thought hmmm well if this god person can come to me and make me feel better when I am down, i will dedicate a song to this god person. so he did. when asked if his hip hop music would talk about sex or drugs or guns, he replied. no. my people have enough of that. i need to tell them a message....that after depending on foreign aid for 19 years and having nothing and being a refugee, now I am making music because I held fast to a dream. and even thought I had nothing and came from nothing. a refugee... a lost boy with no tribe, no family... here I am today. all of this is paraphrased, but it really was a moving moment. we are so lucky.

Tuning in....and headed out

solo_yo — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:29:24 GMT

see y'all at IF. i am soooo excited. and I am bringing my new love to share it with. be back late sunday night.k

listening...

solo_yo — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:45:10 GMT

to an acoustic guitar and a feminine voice on a starry night almost always lays my soul bare, stripped to the core, and i start to think about this little planet we live on and wonder about my life. a short journey and a scavenger hunt for truth, a clue here...yoga... meditation and i catch a wispy breath in my solitude, and the moments between the inhale and exhale. and there it is the shifting, moving, morphing waves of consciousness that keep me looking for the next clue. and I am a telescope that is sometimes out of focus, but you might, one day, catch me on a starry night, and turn that knob, the one that distills me, that focuses me from a glowy ethereal being into an imperfect, and blessedly human girl in the body of a woman, and occasionally a goddess... for just a moment. when my soul knows the joy of finding a tangible connection. and it might be a thought, and I revel in the beauty of a moment without words. and i smile... then the moment breaks, for nothing is forever, and i am falling....searching again, wanting to find the answer, to return to the source. and i think about our parents, how we automatically download their skewed view of the world and how most of us don't learn to tell the truth... but learn to tell it slant. and there it is and there it goes. and there it was. but what was it? no idea. and i pick up a handful of dirt, and wonder how many bones, bodies, histories are intertwined in the layers that I hold in my tiny hands. and i too will become this. but before this, i have a story to tell. and i write pieces of it every day. and some days, i wad it up into a ball and throw it away... wasted. and there are days and moments in which time stops, and I drink deeply from the fountain of life , and it is when i pick up a pen, and scribble. and breathe and record my soul's history. and i wage a war with my inner demons that torture me incessantly, yet i know it is my job to defeat them, for these make me stronger, ready to face the new day with new demons and new battles.

goin to new orleans!

solo_yo — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:15:46 GMT

and goin with Cindi and Gary happy happy me! we will be in new orleans for st Patrick's day. it is a welcome change and an opportunity yo spend some time with two wonderful people that I adore. be back after easter. kim

book a day

solo_yo — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:09:52 GMT

today a book about art... religious vs. spiritual art and the object of either by sister Wendy something. obviously, I completed it, but the actual title escapes me. i met a girl who needed it more than I did. so I gave it away before writing the name down. yesterday N.P. by banana yoshimoto. and the day before that midwives by bohjalian lately all the books taht I read are by authors with impossible names. i am also an amazon bookseller. it helps me part with my old friends.k

countdown

solo_yo — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:00:12 GMT

357 days til George w Bush is not the president of the United States of America

hi there

solo_yo — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:38:35 GMT

i'm in mexico right now, but be home the 10th. kisses and happy new year. kimberley

the gifting game- from chris justhinkin and meggio

solo_yo — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:27:00 GMT

The Game-Meme For the first SIX people who respond- and re-post - this challenge on your blog, I will send you a gift. It might be something I've made, or something cool from my hidden stash. Whatever it is, I promise that I will get it to you in 30 days or less. The only thing you need to do in order to participate is to be one of the first three to reply to this, AND post this very same thing. If you're one of the first three, be sure to email me your home address :)

the great cookie exchange

solo_yo — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:06:28 GMT

what is it???? each person makes 10 dozen cookies( not really that much... i mean it is only 120 cookies... i can eat that over a weekend:)) and then puts a dozen in each of 10 plastic baggies... then we all get together and trade. I will host the one in kansas city during the first or second week in november. it is a fun little get together for the fall. people can sign up with their type of cookie on this blog, many happy cookies to all of you.kimberley here's my ten 10- me lavender chocolate chip 9 and 9.5:) cindy and gary with 7 layer cookie magic 8 trish, are you in? 7 kyrka- what's your flavor?

burner moment

solo_yo — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:21:09 GMT

last week I decided to pop down to a new noodle shop on 59th street with my sister. It is owned by an incredible chef named Denis Kaniger. ( i used to be a nanny/tutor for his kids) As i pulled up, I noticed the car in front of me was covered with bumper stickers. As i scanned it, I noticed this year's BRC sticker- a variation on the green man... and it is interesting that, at that moment I felt a kinship for that individual. it made me smile to know that one of my brothers or sisters was nearby. and so i thought that i would share this moment of unity with you all. and send love to ALL my burner family.k

the cat is out of the bag!

solo_yo — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:25:32 GMT

the good news is that i am getting married. Brandon proposed on tuesday... and all of the closest family has been informed( now that you are all reading this) so we set a tentative date for mid september( next year) We are very happy and hope that all of you can share in the joy of that day. We are still trying to work out the specific date with the minister and the church. and avoid BM08 and family reunions.so, here's a toast to love! cheers! k

beauty loves chaos

solo_yo — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:14:09 GMT

i have met the most incredible being. and, while climbing a waterfall in colorado, we agreed to start an amazing journey together. last weekend, after Astar's wedding, we decided to merge households. and now we are one. my house has never been so disorganized, nor have i ever been so happy. we're having a house warming party sometime in september.i'm quitting teaching today to help run the catering company full time. not going to burning man, surprisingly. but the relationship is new, and i am going to meet the rest of his family on labor day weekend. he's going to costa rica in october for 3 months by himself just to explore the jungle. my kinda guy. so here is my happy news. the heart heals and goes on to run the love marathon..and we are stronger than we believe. k

cat scratch fever...

solo_yo — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:28:33 GMT

hello kim here... yes, in a few days i will explain why i have dropped off the face of the planet. but today i am here to tell you cat scratch fever is REAL i thought it was some rare, hypochondriacal notion. and the story goes...my brother got a new puppy who had not yet met the cat of the house( not mine). i was visiting. the dog went into the bathroom to drink out of the toilet because that is what dogs do. i hear all this hissing and yiping. i go to investigate, the cat has the puppy cornered. of course i do not think at this point and next is an incredibly stupid move... i reach for the cat. no idea why, i was trying to save the puppy. anyways the fucking cat got me. two deep puncture wounds on the meaty part of my hand. countless other scratches. my hand went numb and wouldn't stop bleeding. so i took a shower and packed a good book and headed to the emergency room after consulting with my med student roommate. there are tons of bacterial infections that could result from this type of exposure and of course that cat didn't have its shots up to date. 30-50% of cat bites result in subsequent infections and emergency room visits. got to the emergency room at 10: 30 and left at 4:30. didn't tell my boyfriend until the next day, didn't want to worry him. results: tetanus shot. ow! 1.5 hours soaking in hydrogen peroxide, Vicodin!! as a pain killer??? and some super antibiotics that are about the size of my finger, 875 mgs of something i can't spell. twice daily. lesson learned. next time, i will kick the cat instead.

journey, not destination...part one: dreamtime

solo_yo — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:24:26 GMT

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming. so much has happened since then, and i am not the same person who i was when i left for colorado. the last time i blogged, i was headed to a work weekend at dreamtime. Dreamtime is a festival, but not really. i don't know what else to call it. it is a journey, an exploration, and a trial by fire of your strengths and weaknesses. imagine the most intense emotional roller coaster ride possible. i fell in love daily, minute by minute, hour by hour. with people, places and things.and sometimes love ain't pretty. sometimes it is downright nasty and dirty. it makes you say things that you don't want to say, so that you can go on to love tomorrow. and love doesn't pull punches. but love perserveres. that is it's nature. dreamtime is run by two individuals named jen and eli. they are a couple. and it is easy to forget that we are all in this together, when someone has more power and responsibility than you. it is easy to assume that more power implies that that person is not in the trenches learning with you. and making mistakes. jen and eli were not afforded the luxury of a learning curve.if and when you forget this, the visionaries, the dreamers, the BIG risk takers become targets. i saw this happen. i forgot one of my biggest core concepts: education. the best part of us is our humanity, our ability to fuck it all up, and ask for help( or trash it and start over) and be forgiven. i saw many things that could be changed/ fixed, but at the heart of all of this is good intention. i believe that, for my own reasons. i usually don't go on and on, but this is my blog and this is also an invitation to hear beyond what mere words can say, and consider this an open letter from my heart. the stage is now set... to be continued...

away

solo_yo — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:35:29 GMT

i am headed out tomorrow... flying thanks to my friend anthony who got me an 11th hour buddy pass to denver, and super thanks to nik0 for picking me up at the airport. i am so very fortunate to have such wonderful friends. only love for you all. so i will be away from my computer and phone until monday, maybe tuesday. love you guys and i'll have stories when i return. and i am excited to meet the crew and staff of dreamtime. new and old.k

lavender clouds

solo_yo — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:05:43 GMT

i slipped into a tub of hot water, closed my eyes and dreamed of floating in purple-pink clouds.hmmmm... i opened my eyes and my bath water had turned to that particular color from my hair, which i had recently colored... it made me laugh. and as i watched the steam coming off of my bath, i got lost in the swirls of it. yep, it's a sunday. getting ready to go to spend the day with my friend josh. today i am thinking of why i am here on the planet. i am here to teach some people that it is okay and safe to love and be loved. and when i forget, they are here to remind me. i am here to be a part of that big dream that we call life. and to question the pervasive subjective reality. i have been given so much. and i am a work in progress. i haven't figured out how i am getting to colorado...supposed to be there the 5th through the 10 th, but mostly want to meet the people that i will be working with. for once i am winging it. i have a bigger issues right now. i have to deal with apartment stuff, and car issues and food clothing and shelter... but it will all happen in good time. right now, everyone is blogging, and i love it. keep writing, renae and maev and poly karmatic and gary and trish... thank you for sharing your voices. there is greeat joy in creation and i am happy to share it with you thank you.k