Holy moly

It is almost incomprehensible that a figure with relatively few historical sources (outside the Bible) spawned an abundance of zealots worldwide.

via Salon, a montage of captivating photographs from around the world during Holy Week. What is most striking is that four (out of 33) of the photos from the Philippines.

Related: The Papacy always tunes in for March Madness. (This isn't an Onion piece!)

When will health reform take effect?

I've been asked this question dozens of times since Sunday and I apologize to everyone for my ignorance on that part.

I finally got around to Googling and Kaiser gave me this:

For the recent college grads still on the prowl for full-time work with benefits (I know your pain!), you will immediately benefit because you can stay on your parents' plan until you turn 26.

Senior citizens will receive assistance to pay for their drugs.

The uninsured with pre-existing conditions will qualify for federally-sponsored coverage. (According to the President's email this morning, this will start in 90 days.)

If you have insurance, your insurer can't drop coverage should you get sick.

And to the chagrin of anti-commie teabaggers, the law allows government oversight on private insurers.

These and another dozen things will take effect this year.

Can President Obama keep this momentum going? What about Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Immigration reform? Iraq? Afghanistan? Israel and Palestine? Arts education?!

UPDATE: According to Vice President Biden, the passage of health care reform is a big f-cking deal.  And WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs concurs.

This week, you can find me in

View Larger Map

Buon Compleanno!

my cousin is crazy cool and amazing.  today (on her actual birthday) she's running a half marathon!

Are you living your life?

Manifest your destiny.

Thrifty treasures

One of my absolute favorite places to shop is Thrift Town.  I'm going to have to fight the temptation of going more than once a week because I'm on the prowl for apartment knick knacks.

I had two good finds today:

An antique-ish looking jewelry box with an old school map of the world.  Now all I need is a globe.

A wooden hanger with the cool detail on the neck of it:

Can't wait to splurge at the next Alameda Flea Market!

Update

As many of you know, 2009 has been a very contentious and emotional for me. Thank you to everyone who held my hand during this time.

I must report some good news. I got a job!  And I'll be moving to the big city in about two months!  I'm hesitant to put the exact details of what I'll be doing and where, so you'll have to ask me in real life.

I'm so excited for this position.  It took me a long time to find it, but it has been worth the wait.  I'm going to be able to do something I love, give back to the community, learn new things, and do what I was meant to do with my life.

I should begin writing substantive posts soon.  I have been bouncing a lot of ideas and thoughts in my head the past few weeks and they're ready to be spewed out.

Happy Birthday ta-ta-ta-traaacy!

happy birthday ta-ta-ta-traaacy! now we've known each other for 12 years!

Is Jay-Z an occultist?

Word?!

The Tyranny of Tabs

I hate hyperlinks.

Any hyperlink embedded into articles I'm reading, I'm always compelled to open it in a new tab. Read the next article, and then there are more links and more tabs are opened.  In five minutes, I'm swamped with dozens of tabs in one browser.

It's annoying. Before I know it, I will have wasted hours after just trying to read a few articles.

It gets worse if you're part of any social networking site. There's suggested links, twitpics, youtube videos, etc. 

And so, my friends, I give you "The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions." (via swissmiss).

"You lie!" + Kanye outburst

Seriously, watching this made me laugh for the first time today.

Repeat Assault: India Arie

I went to the John Legend concert last night, t'was AWESOME! I got to Estelle perform "No Other Love" with him too.

But the cherry on top was India Arie. That girl sang her ass off---so frikkin talented, inspirational, moving, and enchanting.

And now I can't stop listening to her song "Therapy." (BTW, "Ready for Love" is one of my favorite songs of all-time, and hearing it love was A-MAZING and hauntingly beautiful. Her mom came out and sang the last few lines of it too.) You have to applaud her for lyrical talent--who else can use the word "overpopulation" in a song?

Repeat Assault: Merry Happy - Kate Nash

"I can be alone, I can watch a sunset on my own."



One of my favorite songs and lyrics.

What Would Barry Goldwater Do?

I'm all over Goldwater these days. Don't be shocked if you catch me talking like a retired, former Senator from Arizona.

via the Washington Post archives, Goldwater had this to say about then-first lady Hillary Clinton in 1994:

On Hillary Clinton, who was an ardent Goldwater supporter in 1964: "If he'd let his wife run business, I think he'd be better off. ... I just like the way she acts. I've never met her, but I sent her a bag of chili, and she invited me to come to the White House some night and said she'd cook chili for me. Someday, maybe."

Can you imagine Goldwater cheering her on with the rest of the Traveling Pantsuits?

Is ennui inevitable in every relationship?

Can two people really love and be "in love" with each other forever?

The only example of everlasting love I can think of is...

"Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own."

awwwwww... that's Love.

Godmother extraordinaire

I have the best god-daughter in the world. She's the smartest and most mature 8-year-old I've ever met. And thanks to me, she knows how to spell paleontologist.

I just unearthed this great photo of the two of us bowling. She looks so happy. Ahhhh, to be a kid.

That's what she said.

I'm aware of my crassness.

Goodnight

The Second Coming

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

William Butler Yeats

BART: What's on your iPod when you're looking at the window?

For those lucky enough to get a seat on BART during your commute, what do you like to listen to while you gaze out the window?

Sometimes while I'm riding, in my head--where all the good stuff happens--I pretend I'm making a music video of the East Bay. You can find similar projects on YouTube, so I know I'm not crazy.

Presently, I'm romanticizing the commute with these:

1) Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

2) Hometown Glory - Adele

3) Summertime - Nina Simone

4) Sideways - Let's Go Sailing

5) Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie

#welovenhs

The GOP received a harsh spanking this week via Twitter, but not from the usual culprits (Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann, etc). After certain GOPers began bashing National Health Service (NHS), tweeters from across the pond raised their arms, tweeting favorable and personal accounts of tax-funded healthcare. Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined the chorale:
Did you hear about how Stephen Hawking got dragged into the healthcare debate? If not, you're in for some gut-wrenching LAUGHTER. Then read this satirical post about it.