For those who were concerned....

yes me and lew exclusively record using "christian guitars" for that 'heavenly' sound.

why do christians do such weird stuff?

New Recordings

my old timer friend Lewis & I have begun recording music every Thursday. To me, it has become maybe quite possibly the most lovely time of the workweek. I take that back, it is. 

After 40-50hrs of laboriousness a week for us both, we've come to crave it. And I think a lot of good has come out, though as a disclaimer (though Lewis says I need to stop doing disclaimers), we are learning and getting better each time. 

They are rough drafts but hopefully you like the sketch. 

Go to myspace.com/poorfriends  to take a listen.  The new songs are "Barry" , "Through the Walls" and "I Taught Him That". We'll have one more in a week too which is turning out to be real delicious called "Around The Block"

I just thought of something, if you never listened before then they are all new to you. I guess that's good too. 

A Tale of Dreams & Immigration & Gang Violence

In the spirit of MLK, I thought I would write a smidge about dreams. Not to worry, we will somehow cover immigration rights & gang violence as well. I am the queen of transition.

With so many networks streaming headlines like "Obama Achieving 'The Dream' Tomorrow", I think it's legit to mention that Dr. King's message was not one just of political equality. In fact, some would argue it was economic injustice that really fueled his fire. 

With 40 million Americans living below the poverty line, I think we might be celebrating a little too soon. Read here to see what a life under the line actually looks like. 

The facts and figures speak for themselves. After roughly 50 years we have made little to no progress.  According the US Census Bureau, the poverty breakdown is as follows: 

 2007 - 12.5% of all people, ^[34]including

- 10.5% white people ^[35]
- 24.5% black people ^[36]
- 21.5% all Hispanic people of any race, ^[37] lived in poverty.

Obama's inauguration and future presidency is a huge step for America, but I don't believe Dr. King's dream has come. Nevertheless, we are marching in the right direction. 

Speaking of marching.....(see that transition?). Two important American issues are immigration and gang violence. I bring these up because 1) they're inextricably linked to economic injustice and 2) I have the best picture of me with some mexican ninos and a burro. See figure 1. and 3) I have a funny story about both...how you ask...

It was the summer of 2008. The hotest it had been in days. Bern & I had a double date in Venice with some hipster roomates. But there was a conflict of interest. 

Our community in solidarity, Boyle Heights, was marching from the Dolores Mission to CIty Hall in Los Angeles protesting the ever-present gang violence that threatens the neighborhood on the same day. 

So, we did what any self respecting socially aware women would do...we lied to the boys and said we were sick. Both of us getting sick at the same time you ask? Yes, friends can often get each other sick because of the close proximity to one another. And so we were free. Free to march with our bothers and sisters of LA. Free to tell the city government that we would stand for this violence no more. Free to look fear straight in the eye and say "You have no hold on me". 

And as we arrived after a 12 mile march to city hall, we were prepared to do just that. But lo and behold it was much more of an immigration rights march to be sure. Not exactly what we had intended...but I consider myself pretty go with the flow. 

So, as a child of a staunch republican family who prays for a wall to be built around our country, I felt invigorated. Sure it wasn't exactly what I had intended to march on...and sure if I hadn't had some elementary spanish knowledge I might have never known we were ill-informed...but something in me was moved that day (bern...I think you know what movement I'm talking about...bahahaa).

And that's how I was tricked into marching in an immigration rights protest on hot day in LA. 

Figure 1

5 things

1) These are Huntington Beach cops. They came to chase away our homeless friend sitting with us at coffee. Unless he was, unbeknownst to us, dangerous or threatening, I think that is kind of offensive to assume we wanted them to take him away. 

2) I just found this at my parents. It's a Christmas card from Jerome, a guy from our church who is in jail. My stepdad flys to Reno to visit him every two weeks. He says it's his Matt. 25:36. Impressed to say the least. 

3) Vintage store in DC. PREDICTION: You'll be seeing this hat in Urban Outfitters next winter.

4) FUTURE FASHION PREDICTION #@: Vertical Stripes

5) This woman is in the airport feeding her bird. 

Part Three Crime Spree

Coning with Cousin

Cones: 8

Youths Influenced: 3

 Cops Involved: 0

3 Things

1) Silverton OR: More like Snowedinton, OR

2) Civil Disobedience With Little Cousin Pt 2: Sharpie on Cement

3)  I'm not lying when I say this is the way I like to eat McDonalds Hamburgers.

Merry Xmas From Ecuador

How lucky of me to find these red & green ladies on Dec 25th on the sandy shores.

AND TO MAKE THINGS WORSE!

my grandma's dog just went blind.

ITS JUST NOT MY DAY (CANT YOU TELL BY THE CAPS?)

LEARNED I RAN OUT OF MONEY, MORNING $55 PARKING TICKET, COOKING FOOD TO SAVE MONEY TO PAY PARKING TICKET, FIRE ALARM SOUNDS, LANDLORD NOW AWARE I'M ILLEGALLY LIVING HERE, OPEN DOOR TO VENTILATE WHILE SWIRLING PILLOW BY ALARM, WIND BLOWS DOOR SHUT, I NEED THE WINDOWS OPEN!,  PAPER CUT IN MINI BLINDS, GET THE SMOKE OUT, ALARM PAUSES, ALARM BEGINS, ALARM ENDS, PULL SWEET POTATOES OUT,  PLAY GUITAR TO SOOTHE THE SOUL, BROKE A STRING, SAY F WORD. 

How genius apple is

I recently realized I didn't sign up for Apple's extended warranty in time though I paid for it already. It had expired and things looked bad. I couldn't wait to get a lecture from the parents about irresponsibility and timeliness. 

So I went on apple's website, and it asked ME if I would like a CALL FROM THEM! I said yes, and they called within the minute. 

The guy on the phone was unbelievably helpful and contacted the right people to confirm that they would enroll me in Apple Care even though I missed the deadline....essentially saving me $100 and family shame. 

This is the best customer service i have received ever...after being on the phone for an hour with AT&T trying to figure out why I couldn't set especially up a modem only to find out that they shipped me a faulty modem. Thanks...I want my 3 hours of life back. 

The rain in spain falls mainly on the plain

Today I opened up my weather screen to see that it is currently raining in all my favorite places. Solidarity sneaks up on you I suppose. 

Shout out to my fam in Brazil, Karina & Adam, & Marian the Librarian for "let[ting] the rain fall down". 

Fathers

I really love my dad. I've never meant somebody so predictably unpredictable.

This is the alien mask he bought for halloween that arrived two weeks later.

He tells me he's going to wake my 16 old cousin Taylor up one morning at 4am with it on.

I believe him. 

WHAT"?!?

With all the media coverage, I failed to see this footage of Sarah Palin in a beauty contest! This is no indication of her ability as a VP, I just think it's crazy how long they make the contestants display their backsides to the judges for. (Not joking, watch these!)

You Can Leave Anytime You Want To

One of my favorite artists of all time is Brian Webb. I saw him back in 2005 in a living room concert. I immediately went to buy his two CDs online that night. I've listened to the 24ish tracks countless times (CONFESSION: I tried starting a relationship with him on Myspace about a month ago and he didn't even respond my semi-flirtatious online advances.)

Anyways, he has this song called Tobias and it is (from what I have gathered) about the difficulties of really loving those who are hard to love. Tobias is a homeless man who is borderline intriguing, borderline creepster. The song tells a tale of the battle between our desire to reach out, love, and engage with the fringe but the ultimate  reality that our humanness comes up short. Even the best-intentioned humanitarian finds more inadequacy than ability.

The part of the song that has really been on my mind lately is Tobias' words to Brian Webb 

"You're so happy with yourself because you live with the poor, but you can leave anytime you want to."

This is the reality that limits us--that forbids us from really loving. We are assured that we can, in fact, "leave anytime we want to" and therefore will never be truly "here".

LISTEN HERE FOR FREE

GO CHEVRON

I really appreciate Chevron's attempt at educating the community about the complexities of energy. It also seems like they are using the millions of people who have played the game as 3rd party researchers which I appreciate as well. Take some time to get a more complicated and complex worldview. 

http://www.willyoujoinus.com/Energyville/

Enneagram Revisited

I went to http://www.9types.com/newtest/homepage.actual.html to retake the Enneagram Test. It's really insightful into the complexities of personality. Definitely no horoscope, you should check it. This is what I am.

The Adventurer (the Seven)

Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

• Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
• Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
• Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
• Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
• Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
• Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Seven

• being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
• being spontaneous and free-spirited
• being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
• being generous and trying to make the world a better place
• having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
• having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Seven

• not having enough time to do all the things I want
• not completing things I start
• not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
• having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
• feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Sevens as Children Often

• are action oriented and adventuresome
• drum up excitement
• prefer being with other children to being alone
• finesse their way around adults
• dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Sevens as Parents

• are often enthusiastic and generous
• want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
• may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Family Mayhem

I've recently introduced my 16 year old cousin to the world of politics and campaigns....and theft.

For more of Taylor The Cousin take a peak at this!

True Love Streaks

Working on a music video shoot

So I didn't get too many responsibilities, except for making signs...and you can see how well that went. 

A Young Dwight Schrute Found In Orange County Coffee Shop!