Tuesday, November 21, 2006

my heart, right now

The plight of refugees was something that I never really considered until I came to Baltimore to work. Since then I have been exposed to many of the realities of refugees and IDP’s, through my work and through reading books about Afghanistan and other places. The issues that effect refugees and IDP’s have become very real to me, and its very very sad. When you see these images of Darfur, you can look at the people depicted and realize that many have not known a life without conflict (the civil war in Sudan has been going on for 20 years). It makes you feel so selfish. At a time in my life where I look forward to the possibilities of the future, of a wide open world where I could do very many things, these people just hope to live with their families in peace. Simply having options would be a wonderful thing to them.

I also thought about this last week when I ran across this article from the BBC. Who can say for sure why these women have chosen to do this, but I know that my experience and understanding of South Asia would indicate its because they have no choice. They may see no hope in their future, no potential for life outside of the one that has been decided for them. It is very sad, and it makes me feel lucky that I have an education, options, a future, potential, the ability to dream and hope that those dreams become reality.

It also makes me feel that I could have just as easily been one of them…….

quotables

From People magazine

Stephen Colbert, this year’s Sexiest Men with Glasses:

“I am sexy. This isn’t ego talking: People magazine says I’m sexy, and I accept that. Who am I to argue? I’m just a person. They’re People.”

Monday, November 13, 2006

november?

Last week was very busy at work. We had a few consultants in for a two-day security training that I was in charge of making sure happened…which meant that I had some late nights at the grocery store and early mornings brewing coffee and setting up a room with easel paper and markers. That said, the training itself is very interesting and I now know how to react if someone throws a live grenade at me (and its not immediately fall to your knees and beg for the rapture!). That info could come in handy someday.

Anyway, I was exhausted once Friday came around and I desperately wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning. However, I was awakened at 7 in the morning by a jackhammer outside my window. They are constructing a “green space” near my apartment (I don’t know how they are going to accomplish that with all the concrete they have been pouring) and they were working early in the morning. So, I had a restless sleep in and a pretty casual Saturday, which included walking to the Barnes and Noble in the Inner Harbor and listening to Christmas music (even though it was like a summer day!). Sunday was spent in Fed Hill cheering for the Ravens. Overall, the NFL was good to me this weekend….the Ravens won, the Bengals lost (my pick in the pool), and the Packers beat Minnesota IN Minnesota (wahoo!).

I have succumbed and finally pulled out my Christmas music for the season, even though it seems wrong because it doesn’t FEEL like Christmas around here. I haven’t even pulled out my winter coat yet! Hopefully it will get colder, and there will be snow in December (although I have a feeling that is wishful thinking).

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

tired but happy

I am tired this morning. Why? Because I got way too caught up in watching the results last night. I spent significant amounts of time flipping tv stations and hitting the refresh button on the political blogs and cnn.com. What I all boils down to is that I am apparently very much a politics geek, but we all have to be true to ourselves.

Needless to say, I am happy this morning, though no doubt there are many people who aren’t (like my friend Brent). All across the country the Dems won races, including the Senate race in Minnesota which saw Mark Kennedy defeated (if there was ever a snarky politician in the world, it would be Mark Kennedy). Maryland has a new Governor and Senator, both who are democrats. And in my home state of Wisconsin, Doyle defeated Green (yay), Kagen defeated Gard (yay) and Kohl remained a senator. The abortion ban in South Dakota was defeated (double yay). First female speaker (fabulous!). The only sad point for me was that WI approved the amendment to ban gay marriage (an argument for another time).

Watching all the coverage last night, I was shocked at how the media has not seemed to have learned the lesson that so many years of tight races should have taught them: projections are not results. It irritates me to no end that they project the winners of races even when the actual precinct reports don’t match up. Last night in MD both O’Malley (Governor) and Cardin (Senate) were anointed winners while the results were still showing Ehrlich and Steele in the lead. It bothers me a lot.

Anyway, that’s all I’m going to write about politics.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

vote!

I voted today, did you? It was the first time I ever voted in MD, first time I ever voted on an electronic machine, the first time I was ever not asked for an ID while voting (which I find scary), and the first time I ever voted for a Republican (I only voted for one..)

Go vote!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

fun

I have been, pleasantly, too busy to write recently. Work picked up a bit at the end of last week, and Friday was crazy because I had to leave early.

Sarah, Kirsten and I went to Philly on Friday to see The Fray at the Electric Factory. Sarah was very jazzed about it all, but I was more enthusiastic about the chance to see Philly again than I was about seeing the The Fray (although, The Fray is very cool). So, needless to say I was very mellow when the opening act, a group I had never heard of called The Feeling, came out. But oh how that attitude changed very quickly. In short, The Feeling are awesome. They are a band from the UK who don’t actually have a cd out here yet, but they will in March. That night they did what all good bands do, they came out onstage and performed for an audience (me) who had never heard of them before and by the end of the set they had fans (me) who were really excited about them and their music who ran to their booth to pick up their cd. I am so excited about this group, that in a lapse of self control I bought their full length cd from HMV in the UK and am having it shipped here. I mean, do they honestly expect me to wait until March to hear it? Its worth the extra $5 to buy the British version, and it makes me happy.

Anyway, another thought that I have been having lately is just how random it is for me to feel like I am in a fun moment in my life right now. I have always been really serious about life, perhaps too serious. But in Baltimore I seem to be surrounded by people who are much more chill than me, and I am adjusting. Its not that I am shirking responsibilities, its just that for whatever reason I am enjoying being young…running off to Philly for the weekend, watching football at friends homes, just hanging out, reading books, seeing films, going out. In some ways, I feel like for this moment in time some of the weight I have been carrying around (for whatever reason, who really knows why I felt weighed down) has been lifted and I feel like I can fun. I feel like my life is full and fun, not empty, boring and useless.

Maybe I’ve just been in a crabby mood and I’m just getting out of it now…the last few months have been a bit intense.