week in haiku

God said invade george
Crony gets nominated
worst president ever


(okay the last line is 6 syllables)


picture of the day

from Jessica Insandiego

homeland security

Via Republic of T

Collage of Protest

I've tried to post this thing three times, I hope it doesn't come up multiple times. I couldn't study knowing there was a protest going on! So I decided to hop on a bus to the White House to see the anti-war protest today. Even though it was about 3:30-4 o'clock, there were alot of people on the streets. My guess there were about 200-300K people, the march, I heard, took more than 3 hours to complete! Sadly, I'm sure the media isn't going to report it. Since it's hurricane obsessed.

shave your bush

by the white house, S24 march for peace and justice 

Worst President Ever

I wish the angle was a little better.

From the S24 anti-war march

everyone's waiting in line...

while our dear leader is safely hidden in NORAD, "monitoring" the destruction of the Texas/Louisiana coast. It seems like we are always waiting in line, and it's the poor, the working class, Blacks, Latinos, the elderly and the children who get left behind. It's nothing out of the ordinary, really. The government's response to Hurricanes is not the issue, for we must be vigilant like our dear leader, of the terrorists that lurk in every dark corner. I cannot bear to watch him anymore, he is a sad and pathetic man. Now the talk is that he is back to the bottle. (really did he ever leave it?). I can't believe we have another 3 years with this dangerous man.

Tommorow is the End the war on Iraq/Justice for the Gulf Coast march. I don't know if they get the expected 100K, the metro has been pretty normal and I haven't seen alot of visiting marchers on the streets today. Usually, those places would get packed before any march. The march in January before the Iraq invasion had at least 300K, and the city that weekend was taken over by activists. I got quite dissilusioned after the J18 (2003) march, it seemed like even though you can gather half of million people to come in the middle of winter to protest a war that hasn't happened yet, our voices didn't matter. We march, make signs and make speeches. We talk a good talk about inclusion and equality, but who's stuck in line waiting to speak, never to be heard from?

I'm a little torn about pulling out the troops from Iraq. We destroyed their infrastructure, disbanded their army and police, fueled a religious rivalry and killed many, many people. Like good Americans we cannot admit to errors or mistakes. So this criminal and murderous mistake will never become the responsibility of the government (remember Rummy's quote "stuff happens"?) and to some extent the American people will never own up to its role in all of this. So what are we gonna do? The UN won't touch this, the world has basically told us to fuck off, the arab world wants us gone...we dug ourselves in the same type of spider hole that Hussain was found in, this time I think there is no way out.

a total eunuch?!

You Are 40% Boyish and 60% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

something's gotta give

It's been 2 weeks, and I think it's hitting me, I am in graduate school (again). I have to say the second time around is a different experience. The students in my class are pretty diverse, which is nice. The curriculum isn't as foreign to me as it was when I was in my masters. I mean how much can things change in 5 years? Although I have to say that I have a lot of refreshing to do. At least I don't have to memorize the DSM-IV! My classes are your basic clinical classes: assessment (IQ), clinical interviewing (therapy 101), psychopathology (diagnose-o-rama). They sound intense. They are. I think the challenge for me will be how to balance of all of this and still have a life and a full time job. When I started school the last time around, like 6 years ago (damn, was it that long ago?) it seemed like I can do it all. I was 29, which isn't spring chicken territory, I had an intense job that took alot of brain power, a life that included a new relationship and good friends, volunteer work, etc. What I remember from that experience is that I didn't feel like I had put enough time in my school work. I felt different things pulling at me and I let go of some things and I didn't feel the repercussions until much later.
This time around, I'm in the same situation, a full time job, a new relationship, good friends, volunteer work...I'm a little older, as the greying of my temples can attest, and I still think I can do it all. But I don't want to. I want to focus on my dream and that may mean that something has to go. Yes, I may have break up this ongoing relationship that has become abusive and unhealthly over the years. For forty hours a week, I have paid attention to this relationship and although I appreciate the compensation for my time, it doesn't make up for the countless hours of banality, boredom and pettiness. It's time to call it a day. I hope to get a part time job sometime in the Spring of '06, just in time for me to start my practicum. I may still have to work to pay some bills, but this time around I'm going to be choosy.

Bush el Pendejo

Reading the Univision comment page has given me an insight to my Latino brothers/sisters' reactions are to katrina's aftermath. There is no "viva bush" here...raza is very angry
here's a taste..my translations aren't literal..
in a thread titled cuantos mas tienen que morir por la ineptitud de Bush?
judithra63 says

Bush el verdadero genosida de nuestros tiempos. Cristobal Colon se le quedo cortito.

translation: Columbus can't compare to the genocide that bush has committed

same thread comment by a guy named pichagua

No me explico,como hay personas que todavia tratan de denfender a este
presidente..es lo mas inepto que se ha instalado en la Casa Blanca ...hasta el General Colin Powel lo critico!!!!Y cuando el perro muerde a su amo,la cosa es grave... .

translation: even colin powell criticized him! I love the last sentence "when a dog bites its owner, it's very serious"

in another thread entitled El presidente no desea ayudar ni a negros, ni a indocumentados
rocio6 said

si hubieran sido blancos y rubios,hubiera mandado ayuda inmediatamente............y debido a esa falta de ayuda,murieron cantidad de personas...lo demostro quedandose un dia mas en su rancho en texas.........la verdad yo no creo en ese senor

translation: if they were white and blonde they would've gotten help immediately. finally she says, i don't believe in him anymore...

pat said with some resignation

Claro que no desea ayudar a los negros, si por el fuera que se mueran todos junto con los indocumentados, Bush es un metiroso,hipocrita y para el es mas importante enviar soldados a Irak que enviarlos a ayudar en el desastre, las pruebas estan ahi, ni siquiera les avisaron con tiempo para evacuar, muchos dicen que no sabian, asi estan las cosas en el pais mas poderoso del mundo. pero aqui seguimos, quejandonos y aguantando lo que sea

translation: Bush is a liar, hypocrite..it is more important to send soldiers to Iraq..then she ends her comment with classic fatalism that only my people know how to express "well, we continue, complaining and putting up with what comes may"

finally in response to Mexico's aid convoy...in a thread entitled Fox Vejete Titere del Borracho Bush (Fox, the elderly puppet of Bush the drunk)
notehagaselyanqui (love the handle!) with the best rant of the day

FOX HAY QUE AYUDAR A SU COMPADRE EL BORRACHIN MAYOR, QUE SE GASTA MILLONES DE DOLARES EN MATAR GENTE EN IRAK Y EN DAR DINERO A LA NASA PARA IR A JODER A LOS MARCIANOS, PORQUE NI ELLOS SE SALVAN DE ESTE VIEJO, NI A ELLOS LOS DEJA EN PAZ SIEMPRE METIDO EN TODO

translation: Fox has to help his drunk buddy who spends millions in killing people in Iraq, who gives money to NASA to fuck with the martians, because they aren't even safe with this jerk, even the maritans aren't left alone, always meddling... His/her comment made my night!

Seriously, there is alot of raw emotion on these threads, lots of anger and shock, many are those looking for lost relatives, other threads speak about the concern many have about immigrants getting deported if they ask for aid. Clearly, this disaster/tragedy/superfuckup effected not only African-Americans and the poor but many immigrants, Latinos and Asians...

"They are trying to kill us"

The second Saturday of every month is board meeting day. Who has board meetings on the weekend? Lesbians! We love to have meetings don't we? We are a community board that advises the Lesbian Health Center of the local LGBT clinic. So we usually discuss things like programs and development issues. The board I'm in is somewhat diverse, at least on paper. Of the active member there are 2 Latinas on board (i'm one of them ) and an African-American woman the rest of this group are white, middle class lesbians. For a city as diverse as DC, it's a problem. I stay because of the mission of the clinic is very important and close to my heart. I also stay because I can't allow non-Latino/Black people set the agenda that will effect people of color. There were only 6 of us this morning. We had a summer hiatus so we checked-in with each other. There were updates about children, (3 of the women have children), new girlfriends, other transitions. A fellow board member was last to come in. She is an elder in the community, a well respected African-American lesbian who has seen alot and has so much organizational wisdom and guidance. She looked visibly shaken as she walked through the door. When it was her turn to speak, she said "they are trying to kill us". Her voice trembled and tears were welling. She needed to talk about what the rest of the room glossed over, the hurricane, the death and destruction that could have been averted, the images of desperate black people on the streets, the bodies of the elderly. The rage and the pain that she expressed moved me to tears. A place, a forum to talk about this was needed. I'm glad she took the opportunity. She kept saying, "they are trying to kill us" in a lucid, matter of fact manner. I noticed the other women of the group were very moved but silent. I will say, that no matter how well meaning you are, if you aren't a person a color, you will NEVER know how racism effects every part of your life. We try to keep racism controlled with an elaborate system of levees and locks. When it breaks, the waters rise, a slow drowning in putrid, fetid waters choke us, a toxic sludge sticks to us and we are unable to get out. The last 2 weeks reminded me that no matter how smart you are, how much money you make, if you speak with a nice accent, you have a job and stay out of trouble, if your skin is black or brown you will drown in those waters unless you have a plan to survive.

louisiana 1927

Louisiana 1927 Aaron Neville...

What has happened down here, is the winds have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
It rained real hard, and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day, the river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood, some people got away alright
The river had busted through clear down to Placker Mine
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
Louisiana, Louisiana
They`re trying to wash us away, they`re trying to wash us away
Oh Louisiana, Louisiana
They`re trying to wash us away, they`re trying to wash us away
President Coolidge come down, in a railroad train
With his little fat man with a note pad in his hand
President say "little fat man, oh isn`t it a shame,
What the river has done to this poor farmer`s land"
Oh Louisiana, Louisiana
They`re trying to wash us away, you`re trying to wash us away
Oh Louisiana, oh Louisiana
They`re trying to wash us away, oh Lord, they`re trying to wash us away
They`re trying to wash us away, they`re trying to wash us away

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."---
Barbara Bush on the New Orleans evacuees



Words fail me.

FW :A Picture Share!

On the E train...

A Picture Share!

At the brooklyn bridge...

President Nero strums while New Orleans drowns

more pictures here

When the Levee Breaks...

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down... Led Zeppelin

RIP SFU

I am a big fan of the HBO series, Six Feet Under. The show came to a close yesterday with the best ending I think, of anything I have seen on television. What I loved about the show is that all the characters were beautifully flawed and even after they die, they left unfinished business. Just like real life. I suppose the entire point of the show can be summed up when one of the characters, the recently departed Nate Fisher, says “I’m just saying you only get one life. There’s no God, no rules, no judgments except for those you accept or create for yourself." Goodbye SFU, I will miss you.

I took a picture of this gravestone in Boston Feb 2004

A Picture Share!

Saw this at the bus stop...

a weekend in san anto...

I spent a nice weekend in san antonio with my gf and my buddies. When I'm visiting SA I do three things...1) eat breakfast tacos 2)have a laugh over drinks with Mike and Brad 3) spend quality time with my girl...ahh, I am satisified. I got to see my old apartment. A friend of a friend bought the entire building and converted the downstairs apartment into his hair salon, and turned my old apartment into his home space. I spent 10 years in that apartment, lots of good times in that place. I am glad he gave it a face lift (as gay men are apt to do). I was touched that he wanted to show it to me, he said he wanted my blessing. I wish him many happy years there.
We took a drive around town Saturday night to take pictures, you can find them on my flickr site. As we were driving around town, taking in the lights, listening to the faint accordian music on the radio, it brought me back to my college days...memories of midnight drives and laughter, visits with friends and late night phone calls, drag pagents and barhopping, kisses and glances over conversation. I think I would be a different person if I stayed in Chicago (that's where I am from), perhaps a little ruder, a little more cynical (can i be anymore cynical?). My visits there make me long for it more than I thought. Life there is a little less hectic. And to be honest, it's nice to be surrounded by raza all the time.

I read opal's account of her visit to Crawford to support Cindy Sheehan. Opal also has photos from Camp Casey. I think her protest is brilliant as she personalized the effects of war. Her demading an audience with Bush puts him on the defensive. He's screwed if he sees her and screwed if doesn't. I saw fewer yellow stickers on cars, did they fall off on their own? Less than half of americans approve of Bush's handling of anything. People are angry but don't know what to do. I think Sheehan is on the right track. Force them to be accountable for what they have done.

Picture of the day...
la morenita