the shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy

i had a feeling about this.  i think being american you grow up with this ability.  this is the second time my instincts about what is really going on in government have proven accurate. the first time was actually when i was in france.  when i got to lyon, france, too was going through all the h1n1 flu craziness.  france?  really?  i thought to myself.  while my professors and certain classmates at school got paranoid, i kept my calm while suspiciously eyeing the french government.  months later i read in the newspaper that the french minister of health had ordered millions of vaccines, millions beyond what the country needed.  their solution then was what had gone on when i arrived:  they tried to scare the citizens, through the media, to get vaccinated.  still they weren't able to use it all up so they sold it off to other countries.

back to the story, though.  we should have known. interesting the parallel between what has transpired in the north african countries and what is now happening in u.s. and europe. please read the article and then pass it on.

doh!

this evening i came across this "game."  it's called ribbon hero and it gets installed on microsoft office. the "game" tests your knowledge of either word, excel, or powerpoint so it's like a tutorial, as well.  this is great for someone like me who knows enough just to get by but is not a wizard which i'd like to be.  with each exercise you earn points. when you don't know what to do next in the exercise, it gives you hints. 

also, when you install this, you're also letting microsoft track how you use it and your level, efficiency, etc.

looking back

now that the year is almost over, i haven been thinking about what this year has been like, what i'd like to change.  it's something that i have been trying to change over the past few years but the more each year progresses, the more i forget and i just end up where i started.  what i'm talking about is me trying to be a positive person.  positive as in, thinks positive thoughts, speaks positive thoughts, and is more pro-activ in my own life.  i am a negative nancy, a scrooge.  i try to remind myself about the universal law of attraction.  think and believe in abundance and the universe will give it back to you.  pretty much anything you put out will come back to you.  on my part, i see how that has led me to where my life is today.  there has been times when i did make things happen and other times i just sit and wait, hoping things will happen on its own.  i really need to stop that.

spending too much

this month for some reason, my expenditures for groceries and other necessities have gone up.  it's only half way through the month and i've already spent $60 more than previous months.  and i still have one more thing i have to buy:  a reflective arm band for my walk to the bus stop in the evening. the sun is setting earlier and by 6 pm its already dark out here. plus it's good for two other things: not getting passed by the bus because the driver couldn't see you and not getting nearly run over by drivers who are making a left turn ON RED!  i wish i had thought of this when i was working at ikea and had to walk the last 30 minutes home.  this will be $10.  $5 for the product and another $5 for shipping.

sketching.

a drawing of my roommate. paris, 2005.

sakura koi watercolor sketch box set of 12, $12.99; similar watercolor brushes, $6-9.

after coming across the urban sketchers website, my love for sketching on-location, has come back.  i haven't done it in awhile.  the last time was in lyon and unfortunately the little sketchpad i made the drawing in is currently misplaced.  one of my favorite sketchers from the group is lapin (it means pen in french).  one of his sketches is the header image for the urban sketchers website.  looking through his blog, i now want to go out and get a few more supplies:  some water color pens and a travel watercolor palette.  i can't wait to sketch again.

                      

career map: updated

since september i've been feeling empty.  i thought it was because it was a time that i could have gone back out and applied for retail/hourly work.  then september turned to october.  still the feeling was there and i did nothing about it.  now its november.  a few days ago i just applied to one job near home.  after i received a sign yesterday, i realize i wasn't really or i didn't need to go apply for work but that i should be spending more days at work.  so far i'm only volunteering twice a week.  i also realized yesterday, that i had lost sight of my career plans and had gone into lazy mode--lazy as in letting things just coast along.

so when i return to work monday i will ask to change my schedule and activities around a little bit.  might throw in one other day of work and see how that goes.  for the future though, that too, will change.  i will now have to find and do a couple years of voluntary humanitarian work (hopefully) and then go back to school for a masters degree.  at first i was going to do one or two not-so-long-term volunteer projects, then head back to school, then find a job in the humanitarian field.

there is a lot i can learn at the nonprofit where i am currently volunteering.  hopefully this will all become useful in the future.

craigslist

i posted something for sale on craigslist. on a single page there are 100 postings. i wonder if anyone would notice.

life + circles

This looks chaotic but it was pretty organized and peaceful.

now that i'm 30, i can look back at my life and see how certain events have all come around full circle.  i remember not too long ago, seeing how it was my study of the french language that has taken me further than my university degree or anything else (geographically, anyway).  now that i know i want to work in humanitarian aid, i can see why i've studied that language throughout my life (even beyond university).

when i was in france, i remember looking into the local branch of greenpeace and amnesty international for volunteer positions. unfortunately i never got that far because my french was still limited then. the signs were always there in my actions. if only...

anyhow, when i first arrived there, lyon was having its biennial art festival, i remember one of the venues had a solo exhibition for one artist, laura genz,  followed the plight of the african sans papiers (or illegal immigrants) for over a year. for over a year, a rotating and large group of immigrants did a sit-in at the immigration office in paris.  over a  year! anyhow, for most of those days the artist did an ink drawing of the scenes at the labor office (which can be seen here).  the french labor office reviews each case one by one, and judges who gets their paperwork for legal residency that way but the immigrants wanted it to be a fixed, flat policy. it was a very moving piece.  i ended up buying one of the drawings (the one dated and labeled samedi 4 avril 2009...) that she made into a postcard.  five months later, as i was walking around bastille in paris, i heard a lot of noise down the street.  i followed it and there in front of me was one of the biggest protest/rallies i've ever seen.  in france, it was more like a parade.  there were balloons, confetti thrown everywhere, music blasting.  the french right was present, as well as the left.  there were groups of people who were protesting against the new retirement age, people in education were also protesting (a lot of people are unhappy with their president's new policies), and the last group to be seen were the immigrants.  the same immigrants that i had been exposed to at the art biennale in lyon.  they were there.  a very large group, i might add.  when i saw them, i saw my circle come around.

yet, in one of the days surrounding that manifestation, i was at the palais royal du louvre.  on the way back to the metro station, there was this big public sculpture/demonstration in a nearby plaza.  what looked like a stage was actually this public sculpture that was a rectangular frame with water falling out of the top like a waterfall.  through the water, there was a message that would be projected in it.  the message was about how non-potable water kills more than war, aids, and cancer combined.  this demonstration was sponsored by solidarite international, a french humanitarian nonprofit.

only after my return did i see all these things come together.

a nonprofit in togo

after looking through different programs for volunteering, i had become somewhat disappointed.  all the programs that i have been looking at are organized by western organizations, priced competitively though still pretty expensive and after reading articles by experts in the field, i learned these programs that i have come across might not be doing that much good in the local community where the aid was being carried out.

then it finally donned on me:  i should be looking into the local nonprofits in the country i want to be working in. so i did a google search:  africa+nonprofit+volunteer, or something like that. jackpot. google's search brought a page full of african nonprofits. i clicked on the first one that got my attention, le promotion et developpement humain (PDH) or in english, the human development and promotion center. they are a very small nonprofit situtated in lomé, the capital city of togo.

 their mission:

 PDH has an open-door and non-discriminatory philosophy that strives to help anyone in need, regardless of their status or condition. That means that all sorts of people come to our centre in order to relate their difficulties: those suffering from AIDS, HIV, illnesses or varying degrees of poverty, the unemployed, orphans, children in need and victims of abuse or family problems. Our humanitarian efforts are thus unique because we are able to help those in need on a personal, one-to-one basis.

at first, i was taken by their professionally done website which i learned later was done and maintained by a former volunteer. still i couldn't tell if this was a real organization or a scam. their fees are smaller than their western counterparts so that was a good thing.  i read the testimonials from previous volunteers but i still wasn't assured of their legitimacy. i was hoping to find some reviews from previous volunteers elsewhere on the internet. what i found instead was a facebook page for the organization. i then looked through their photos making sure these were taken by the organization and what i was seeing were actually their volunteers and their daily activity. sure enough, i began to see the truth--this is a real nonprofit.

the nonprofit, as i said earlier, is very small. they have four volunteer staff and only a handful (about 10)  international volunteers a month. togo was a former french colony so the natives there speak french as well as their own dialects. i suddenly became very interested in this nonprofit. if i volunteer there, i can learn about humanitarian aid and hopefully, improve my french at the same time. being such a small organization, i felt i wanted to help them in some way. to spread the word so that they might attract more volunteers and in doing so, help them further their work by being able to help more people. so this is my first step:  sharing it here.

the death of halloween.

it is worth noting that each year there seems to be less and less kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. i really did not hear that many people pass by that night.  one of my cousins did not get any kids at all at their house. i attribute this to the fact that shopping centers (or the stores) are giving out candy that night.  that's where parents are taking their kids.  it's just more convenient and safer.  a lot of people who buy candy are either buying it for themselves or for a party.  it's interesting that while halloween may be dying in certain parts of this country, it seems to be growing in europe.

candy

living on a small budget, i've had to make a few sacrifices.  one is having to cut back on candy.  luckily, at least here in the u.s., companies like the mars candy company, make holiday specific packaging which means that once that holiday has passed, stores like walmart have to mark down the prices, usually 50%.  so today i went to walmart in the morning as there is usually nothing left if you go later.  there were only a few things from all the discounted candy that i liked from what was left, one of which is the fun size york peppermint paddies.  they were $1.24 for an 11 ounce bag after the discount.  i wanted to buy 3 bags but decided on two.

one of the things i saw there though were other customers filling their cart halfway with candy.  really?  they can't wait two months for the next holiday sale?