Life is the Art

When two galaxies collide!

2011-08-13T19:59:00.001-04:00

nasa

Author Alice Walker Joins U.S. Aid Ship to Confront Israeli Naval Blocka...

2011-06-30T14:16:00.000-04:00

Anansesem-The Online Caribbean Children's Literature Magazine

2011-06-09T11:24:00.004-04:00

The Resourceful One

by Mirlande Jean-Gilles

My mother calls me The Resourceful One. Before the big séisme₁ of January 12th, when our neighborhood was still standing, if she needed garlic, an onion, nails, anything, she could send me out into the neighborhood and in a few minutes I would bring her what she needed. I am still resourceful and it is necessary here in Port-au-Prince where we have to make something out of nothing.

Almost all the houses in my neighborhood were destroyed when the earthquake happened. Now everyone lives across the street in a field where our country’s soccer team used to practice. Some families live in camping tents, other families, like mine have made walls, roofs and doors out of plastic tarps, blankets, pieces of wood and string. Where I live is called a tent city and it is arranged with hundreds of neat rows of broken down shacks leaning on each other for support.

I am carrying a heavy, spilling bucket almost filled to the top with water I have just retrieved from the water trucks that deliver water daily. My upset mother is outside of our shack pacing and crying.

She runs over to me in a panic. “You must go find insulin. Your aunt is sick. Quickly!” She yells to my back. I am already running. My aunt has diabetes and it makes her very ill. The uneven, rocky ground makes me lose my footing.

My heart is beating so fast. I rush to the shack of Madame Charles because she is a nurse. I push aside the blanket that is her door and no one is there. My heart falls. I head over to see Josette who is another nurse that lives in our tent city.

My friend Camile is running by my side and we almost run into somebody’s cooking fire.

“My aunt is sick and I need to get insulin. I’m going to Josette’s. Madame Charles is not home.”
We turn a corner and a group of kids are following us.

Camile says, “I’ll go look by the water truck, maybe Madame Charles is on line.” I am speeding passed a row of tent houses and I see Camile’s mother.

“What is wrong Lucien?”

It is hard to breathe, my chest is burning, but I get the words out.

“My aunt is sick and my mother asked me to get insulin for her.” She makes a surprised sound and only nods. I continue to run to Josette’s tent.

A short boy named Benoit runs up to me. He says, “I went by Josie’s tent and she’s not there, but someone saw Madame Charles’ son at the soccer field.”

I run towards the field and running to me are Camile and Madame Charles’ son.

“Where is your mother? My aunt is sick!”

“She’s working at the hospital,” he says sadly.

I cannot believe it. Quiet tears fall. I run towards home. For the first time my hands are empty. Camile catches up to me.

I say tearfully, “I have to go back home with nothing.”

There’s crowd in front of our shack. They chant my name excitedly when they see me. I am so upset. People pat me on the head and back as I rush into the room full of people. My aunt is sitting up looking well. My uncle grabs me in a hug and shakes my hand.

My mother hugs me tearfully and says, “I knew you would be able to get it!”

I am confused. Hot tears run down my face. “I didn’t get it,” I say quietly.

“Come here, child,” my aunt says. I am so relieved that she is well. She embraces me in a warm hug that smells of lavender.

“I wasn’t able to get it,” I cry.

“You sent out your army and they found it,” my aunt says, hugging me tighter.

“Army?” I ask.

“You sent the word out and the city answered.”

Everyone is staring proudly at me. My heart is soaring.

My uncle says, “Frederic rushed in here with insulin from his grandfather. He heard you say you needed it. You told Camile’s mother, who knows someone who suffers like your aunt. She ran in here with more insulin.”

Madame Charles rushes into our shack with a man dressed in a doctor’s coat. I cannot stay any longer. My mother hugs me and kisses my forehead before I can leave.

“My Resourceful One. Good job,” she whispers to me.

Outside, Camile and Frederic are with some of the other kids waiting. I shake Frederic’s hand.

“Thanks for your help,” I tell him. He just nods. Everyone is talking at once as we all walk to the soccer field.

Notes

1. séisme: The French word for eathquake.

Check out more stories and images at http://ananseseminfo.blogspot.com/2011/05/dreams-and-experience-illustrations-by.html

Book Sellers-#4 in the Market Women Series

2011-05-15T09:58:00.002-04:00

The Book Sellers. Hand done Collage.
© Copyright Mirlande Jean-Gilles 2011

Modern Woman Revisited-#3 in the Basket Women Series

2011-05-14T20:26:00.003-04:00

This is woman can go from the market and then to a party after work.
Hand done collage. Copyright Mirlande Jean-Gilles 2011

Modern Woman-#2 in the Basket Women Series

2011-05-13T20:50:00.007-04:00

She is a traditional, yet fashionable. She has the modern necessities needed to handle her business.

This is a collage and it was all done by hand.

Voices from Haiti

2011-05-13T20:30:00.002-04:00

Check out this interview I did with Katia D. Ulysse for her website Voices from Haiti.

http://voicesfromhaiti.com/Mirlande_Jean-Gilles.html

Sky Basket

2011-05-08T04:42:00.001-04:00

Sky Basket
Collage from the Basket Women Series
Copyright 2011 Mirlande Jean-Gilles

Haiti's new President

2011-05-08T00:58:00.002-04:00

Sweet Mickey is presently president of Haiti. Primped and polished with a pink dress shirt and peace sign. He is professional and poised. There is another side. There are only a few salacious videos of him left, his internet presence scrubbed clean. The other side is carnival crazy. Wearing a diaper and mooning his musical audience with an eyeful of hairy man parts. He is a grinding and gyrating, gypsy. He says his presidency won’t be like the performer Sweet Mickey.

He ran on education reform. He wants free education for all children on the island. Almost all the schools in the country are private.

Some of the people rioted during election frenzy. They took to the streets chanting Tet Kale! Tet Kale! Tete Kale wins after contested results and a runoff with a woman who shares my first name Mirlande Manigat.

Haiti needs infrastructure, jobs for the people, rebuilding of homes, trees, hospitals and schools. There is so much that needs to be done. There are still dead buried beneath the concrete. Earthquake debris is everywhere. There is rampant homelessness and disease.

A year from now, if the hungry, homeless people are still living in the same conditions as today will their anger rise to the surface by way of a coup? Will another president be deposed?

Sweet Mickey President of Haiti

2011-04-05T14:20:00.003-04:00

Michel Martelly aka Sweet Mickey has won his bid to be president of Haiti.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/05/2149983/sweet-micky-martelly-reportedly.html

Aristide is going back to Haiti

2011-03-15T08:39:00.002-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/03/12/haiti.aristide/index.html

Two Candidates Chosen in Haiti

2011-02-05T19:24:00.003-05:00

Foreign Powers Praise Haiti Election Decision

by The Associated Press

February 3, 2011

Haiti's decision to eliminate the government-backed candidate from a presidential runoff won praise from foreign powers Thursday, and the U.S. and others signaled they would agree with President Rene Preval staying in office for a few months past the end of his term.

The move ended a weekslong standoff with international donors. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had made a last-minute visit in the midst of the Egypt crisis to reiterate personally to Preval that Washington supported the Organization of American States recommendation that ruling-party candidate Jude Celestin be dropped from the ballot.

The early morning announcement that first-place candidate Mirlande Manigat will face popular singer Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly prompted cheers of relief in the surrounding suburbs of the capital, where residents had feared a repeat of pro-Martelly riots in December after preliminary results showed Celestin as the
No. 2 vote-getter.

That joy was surpassed by the reaction abroad.

"It's a great day in Haiti today again. We had some positive results from the (electoral council) earlier this morning," U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten told reporters in Washington. "We are pleased to note that they seemed to have been very diligent in following the OAS verification mission's report's recommendations."

Governments that have collectively spent billions on Haiti's stalled recovery from last year's earthquake, and pledged billions more for reconstruction, wanted to see an acceptably elected government in place to continue with their investment, aid and reconstruction plans.

International frustration with Preval was high. The U.S. suspended visas to a number of officials in the lead-up to the final results as rumors swirled that Celestin would be given a spot in the runoff. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said support depended in part on following the OAS recommendations.

On Thursday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the final results and "encouraged all actors to take advantage of this opportunity to move forward with the electoral process."

An OAS expert team was brought in to sort through a messy first round election on Nov. 28 that was nearly derailed by fraud, disorganization, voter intimidation and calls by candidates, including Martelly and Manigat, to throw out the vote while polls were open.

Though international observers initially said problems had not invalidated the election, the Dec. 7 announcement that Celestin could advance and subsequent rioting prompted immediate statements by the U.S. Embassy and others questioning the results. Some, including members of the U.S. Congress, called the OAS report a whitewash and foreign meddling in Haitian affairs.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters said the United States, Canada and France "used [their] tremendous power and influence to determine the outcome of the first round" and denied Haitians "the opportunity to express their will."

The left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research called it "a big setback." Both said the race was fundamentally flawed because it excluded the party of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who remains popular among many Haitians and has a dedicated following overseas.

But many Haitians, especially in the capital, said they were happy with the result.

"If people didn't vote for the candidates, we wouldn't have had these problems" in the streets, said Adlair Saintil, a 28-year-old bread vendor.

He supports Martelly because of promises to move government services and jobs to areas outside Port-au-Prince.

"A lot of people died because they had to leave their hometowns," Saintil
said.

The second round, originally slated for January, is now expected March 20 with campaigning set to begin Feb. 17. Final results — the naming of Haiti's next president — is not foreseen until April 16.

Preval's five-year term is supposed to end Monday. He extended his term for up to three months through a law passed by members of his party in an expiring Senate. Haitians fed up with his government protested and he pledged to step down on time, but more recently reversed course and said he wants to remain until a successor is elected.

"If him continuing in his position until a new president is elected supports stability and peace in the country then I think it's a good thing,'' OAS Assistant Secretary-General Albert Ramdin told The Associated Press by phone. "But this is a decision to be made by the Haitian authorities."

Merten, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, agreed.

"Our goal is again to support what the Haitian people want and for there to be a
peaceful turnover of power from one legitimately elected president to another," he said.

Asked about Preval's plans, his chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, told the AP: "We have to wait until he makes a public statement."

Despite a crowded and fractured field, candidates of Preval's Inite, or Unity, party advanced to runoffs or won outright 68 of 99 races for the lower house of parliament and all but one of the 11 open Senate races.

Opponents allege Inite used fraud in those races as well. But Ramdin said that was an internal matter and that the OAS expert team focused solely on the presidential race.

Parliament ratifies — and can remove — the presidentially nominated prime minister, who serves as head of government under the president, who is head of state.

A beaming Martelly said after the runoff announcement that justice had been done.

"I don't think [foreign governments] have decided the political future of Haiti. I think that the support that they have brought to Haiti matches the people's will toward change," he said at a news conference.

Most people were just glad to have not added another problem to their often insurmountable daily struggles: poverty, the lack of rebuilding, a cholera epidemic and the lack of basic institutions.

"Everyone is very happy that the country woke up calm," said Ronald Joseph, a 37-year-old mechanic. "Hopefully we can have a second round and things will move ahead."

Duvalier taken into custody

2011-01-18T19:20:00.002-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/18/haiti.duvalier/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

Duvalier back in Haiti!

2011-01-17T23:09:00.006-05:00

This man who was a brutal dictator for thirty years in Haiti, killed thousands who opposed him, stole millions from the country...has come back. Why? Why is this man even allowed to travel freely he should be in prison. Some Haitians are happy he is back. Many, many, many are upset.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/world/americas/18haiti.html?_r=1

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/17/haiti.duvalier/index.html

No follow through on all those pledges to Haiti

2011-01-14T00:03:00.001-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/world-turns-its-back-on-haiti_n_808660.html

Haiti-One Year Later

2011-01-11T20:45:00.011-05:00

A year after the earthquake things are still dire in Haiti. There has been some progress, but it is very slow. Hundreds of thousands still live in tents and sprawling tent cities. When hurricane season was in full effect the cities flooded. Tarps and tents didn't offer any protection against the winds and pouring rain.
There are people making a difference, individual Haitians who have taken it upon themselves to help their people. Today I heard an NPR story on Dr. Rodrigue Mortel who is Haitian and has a school that educates and looks to educate the poorest of the poor in Haiti. He is associated with Catholic Charities in Baltimore and he also has his own foundation. They feed 19,000 children two meals a day. Listening to him on the radio made an impact me.
Link to his foundation.
http://mortelfoundation.org/

http://www.highhopesforhaiti.org/

A year later there is still hope for change and something better. Haitians have faith.
The temporary shelters cannot become permanent. The corrupt government that steals the aid and shuffles their feet as the people suffer must be taken out, all the government all the way up and down. All the infrastructure, from phone lines to a sewage system needs to be built. The task is monumental, to build a crumbled city back up while millions of people still live there.

New York Times images of Haiti Before and After and Now

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/newsgraphics/2011/0109-haiti-map-html/?hp&ref=haiti

Edwidge Danticat talks about Haiti one year later
The Haiti earthquake, a year later: newyorker.com

Danticat: Yes, Haitians are tired, but they are not defeated - Other Views - MiamiHerald.com

Hope for Haiti

2011-01-08T01:15:00.001-05:00

/www.npr.org/2011/01/05/132672856/foreign-policy-why-there-is-hope-for-haiti

Haitian crafts at Macys

2011-01-03T17:43:00.009-05:00

Images of housewares produced by Haitian artists that are being sold at Macy's it's called Hope for Haiti.

http://www1.macys.com/shop/for-the-home/special-shops/shop-for-a-better-world/heart-of-haiti?id=52472&noScript=seo#!fn=sortBy%3DORIGINAL%26productsPerPage%3D40&!qvp=iqvp

Haiti votes

2010-12-13T11:00:00.003-05:00

This is a simple article describing what is happening now in the Haitian elections. Though "Sweet Mickey" is not the winner the article focuses on him. The current results show that he is in 3rd place. Protesters, his supporters went out en masse to show their displeasure and screamed election fraud. They were destructive and had Haiti in chaos for a few days.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/12/12/haiti.elections.martelly/index.html

Elections in Haiti

2010-12-01T12:02:00.002-05:00

In Haiti everything is in flux. Amidst homelessness and a cholera outbreak the citizens of Haiti have voted. There were places where there was voter intimidation, fraud, closed polling places but the people will not stop their voices from being heard.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/11/haiti-election.html

http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/haiti_news/51633.html

Cholera gets worse

2010-11-22T19:31:00.002-05:00

Cholera is spreading in Haiti. It has been confirmed that the Nepalese troops working with the UN have been found to be the source of the outbreak. If the citizens complaints about the stench coming from behind their headquarters, the sewage being dumped had been taken seriously could it have been contained before it has turned into the major catastrophe that it is?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111905427.html

Hurricane Tomas

2010-11-04T09:58:00.003-04:00

Hurricane Tomas is a devastating hurricane heading towards Haiti and Jamaica. The folks in Haiti who are already homeless and living in tents and tent cities are now being told to evacuate. These folks do not have any place to go. The little they have will either be destroyed by the hurricane or demolished, stolen, anything can happen. People are not even sure if they can return to their tent/tarp homes. This is very sad.
There are very few safe structures in the capital that can be used to shelter all those people from this ferocious storm. Not enough has been done since January to improve the lives of the people in Port au Prince. They are left vulnerable, homeless, jobless and becoming more and more hopeless.

News links
http://www.dailyfinance.com/article//confusion-fear-as-haiti-camps-evacuate/1088914/?cid=13

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/04/tropical.weather/index.html?hpt=T2

Cholera in Haiti

2010-10-29T01:20:00.006-04:00

Cholera is a terrible and painful disease. https://health.google.com/health/ref/Cholera
It hasn't been found in Haiti for many years. The Nepalese army is being investigated as the source of the outbreak. They might have inadvertently contaminated a major water source with their waste products.
Without proper sanitation, like clean water and soap to wash hands the disease will spread. There are no public water works on the island.

Cholera clinics are being burned down by worried residents.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/world/americas/28haiti.html

NPR has comprehensive coverage of the outbreak.
http://www.
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130731239

A great article by Ezili Danto
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=120863

Democracy Now coverage of cholera outbreak
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/26/partners_in_health_physician_cholera_will

It's very sad to watch the people of Haiti suffer so much. It's event after awful event striking an already stressed population. There was so much aid promised after the earthquake and yet there has been no change in the condition of the people in terms of jobs, housing, removal of rubble, food and water security.

Gnarls Barkley - Going On

2010-09-22T12:10:00.001-04:00

Wyclef for president?

2010-08-26T20:12:00.007-04:00

Wyclef's bid for president of Haiti had folks talking about the country again. For a moment people were interested in the island. On the news, on facebook and twitter Haiti was the trend. Wyclef definitely enlivened the politcal espirit of the youth.

Haiti is such a deeply complicated and monumentally troubled country it needs someone in charge who really knows what she/he is doing. It needs someone who has lived there and knows how things run. There are so many levels, so many layers.

After the earthquake in Haiti we heard more from Wyclef than the real president. His foundation Yele raised millions. Him and his wife picked up dead bodies from off the streets days after the earthquake. Yele distributes water and food to many homeless and hungry Haitian. I don't think that translates to an ability to govern a nation.

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=129090122&m=129090112
After hearing this interview on NPR I was disappointed in Wyclef.

New York Times article about Wyclef's bid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/world/americas/06briefs-Haiti.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67L1HC20100822
Wyclef's bid for presidency rejected.

Pras doesn't support his homie
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_YN30mR2j 4

Haiti Today

2010-05-20T11:14:00.010-04:00

The progress in Haiti is very slow. These images are beautiful and heart wrenching.

Haitian Flag Day May 18th, 2010
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/19/1636237/preval-appeals-for-unity.html

Seeds

The multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation know as Monsanto is donating millions of dollars worth of seeds to Haiti. They have a horrible global track record that is against the rights of farmers and they pollute the environment. They produce "Franken-foods" with no long term research on the side effects of GMO's on human health.
They are currently under investigation by the US gov't for anti tariff issues in their policies with farmers.
Their seeds produce a large percentage the cotton grown and the soybeans and corn we eat in the US.
Some of the Haitian farmers have vowed to burn the Monsanto seeds rather than plant them.
This article by Beverly Bell addresses some of these issues.

www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-bell/haitian-farmers-commit-to_b_578807.html

True Facts about Monsanto.
They developed the bovine growth hormone.
They introduced caffeine into Coke.
They made Agent Orange!
Helped develop Nuclear weapons!
And developed PCBs!

Almost 10 billion in aid to Haiti

2010-04-04T23:56:00.003-04:00

With all this money going to Haiti will the people eat?

Will the maternal and child mortality rate go down?

Will adequate housing be built?

Will hospital and health clinics rise out of the rubble?

Will there be real temporary housing for the people during this rainy season? Not just sheets and shit.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/31/haiti.donors/index.html?iref=allsearch

Link to article about the large amount of donations going to Haiti long term and short term.

Donors Conference for Haiti Recovery video

http://c-spanvideo.org/program/id/221836

Spring

2010-03-29T19:33:00.004-04:00

Spring is here. The season of new growth. We shed our winter layers and emerge out of internal hibernation to external.

At one point there was 3 feet of snow in our state and the world stopped for three days. Back to back blizzards.

I went in and finally finished "final" draft of novel. It took a month, I've been working on this book for a long time and it needed to be done.

Haiti
My fiction is about Haiti. This last month I kept my news gathering to almost nothing. I used to need to stay plugged in to what was happening every single day in Haiti.

Working on this draft stopped me from doing that because I was the most disciplined I have been. It's like the pushing stage of childbirth but longer. The physical feelings of working on draft is mostly exhilaration and there's fear and foreboding and a little bit of guilt cause "shh mommy needs to finish typing this sentence." And sleepy cause staying up all night. Watching day rise before your eyes.

I'm back reading about Haiti and it's the same thing. The people suffer. Billions go into the country and families live in ditches with only sticks and sheets to protect them from the rain. The hurricane, the thunder storms, the lightening. No shelter from the robbers, the crazies, the mosquitoes, the rats, the dogs.

The fiction saves me. I write about Haiti in the "glory" days. Who knew that there was a lower it could all go? Folks had nothing. It got worse.

On twitter and on NPR I am hearing news about Haiti. The world has not totally forgotten the country but the deep well that is corruption will take the money and the people will continue to suffer. The hopeful thing is folks are still going to Haiti to help.

NGO's are still sprouting and growing. That's good and has it's issues. One issue is a person who is not Christian being denied aid on the basis of their religion.

Haiti 3 weeks later

2010-02-03T17:00:00.005-05:00

Three weeks after the devastating earthquake in Haiti there are still bottlenecks to aid. With all the outpouring of donations, can't fifty people be hired to figure out how to coordinate getting tents, medical assistance, food, water, job applications to the people that need it. I understand everything takes time. There is so much destruction and so much need. An island with Haiti's infrastructure is a huge challenge I'm sure but come on. During times of war, bases are set up for thousands of men. They get latrines, electricity, water, refrigeration, beds, televisions, mess halls. How do those things get there? Any where, even the mountains of far away lands.
I am humbled by the amount of help Haiti is getting. It is a small island and there is all this concern and folks sacrificing money, time, energy, blood to help Haitians. I couldn't watch the telethons with the slide show of the tragedy and the songs. I saw something breifly and started crying. I want to stay hopeful. I wonder with this much trouble still just to get food how will it be rebuilt.

The UN has started a new program to get food distrubted in a more organized fashion. They haven given women a special coupon that entitles them to a big bag of rice. Only women get the coupons which of course has some men upset because they head their families. The UN feels giving the rice to the women ensures the folks that need will get.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/31/haiti.food.aid/index.html

A woman who had been buried for six days, her life now.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/03/haiti.buried.six.days/index.html?hpt=C2

A great video by Frederic Dupoux. He lives in Haiti and has been giving assistance, sharing information with all of us.
http://www.zaboka.net/2010/02/what-you-dont-see-in-the-news/

The US stopped evacuating critically injured Haitians.

The US restarted evacuating critically injured Haitians.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/01/haiti.earthquake/index.html?iref=allsearch

A girl is found alive after 15 days under the rubble

2010-01-27T23:56:00.006-05:00

Article from Reuters on line

By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A teenage girl was pulled alive from under a collapsed house in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, 15 days after Haiti's devastating earthquake.

She was severely dehydrated and had a leg injury but was conscious when she was dragged out of the rubble by French and Haitian rescuers.

"I don't know how she happened to resist that long. It's a miracle," said rescue worker J.P. Malaganne, adding that the girl, named Darline, was happy, shocked and crying.

"She will live. She is only 16 years old and she has her whole life ahead of her," said Colonel Michel Orcel, a French doctor. "We are providing the care she needs and she will be OK."

Someone heard the girl's voice and urged local Red Cross and civil protection workers to send rescuers to the site, said Stephan Sadak, a member of the French rescue team.

The girl was trapped between a collapsed wall and a door in the remains of her home near a school in Haiti's coastal capital, which was destroyed by a Jan. 12 earthquake.

"She was able to survive because she wasn't crushed by the rubble and there was a space where she could lie down," Sadak told Reuters.

Rescuers did not know if she had water or food with her. "It's possible she may have had something, but not much," Sadak said.

One man fed her candy as rescuers neared her and a throng of neighbours cheered as she was pulled free 90 minutes after they arrived.

More than 130 people have been rescued from the rubble since the quake hit, surprising experts who believed they would not find so many survivors.

"It's not at all usual. It's exceptional," said Sadak.

Haitians are still appealing to search teams to go to new sites.

"We are the best team in the world!" the elated crew shouted in French after she was taken away by ambulance to a field hospital.

(Writing by Doina Chiacu and Jane Sutton; Editing by Kieran Murray)

Where is the help?

2010-01-21T08:39:00.004-05:00

8 days after the earthquake in Haiti there are still people without water. Thousands of bottles sit at Port au Prince airport. Medical supplies and food, just sitting there.
I wonder how the other towns who are absorbing all of those refugees are going to fare? So many people as many as 200,000 have left the capital. People who are hurt are also leaving because they are not finding aid. I hope the leaders in those towns are active and vocal. There is so much international response to this crisis. There is so much people power and money, everyone should be able to eat and drink. There just needs to be some kind of grand plan that everyone contributes too. There has to be great transparency with the gov't because it has to be rebuilt. I wonder if it can happen. The enormity of the destruction is on such a grand scale it is humbling, it is sad, it is terrible.

When I see reporters calling people trying to get food, "looters" I feel the sting of racism and classicism. There has not been widespread looting or violence even though so much has been lost. I'm sure there were isolated incidents where violence happened.

Found in the Rubble

2010-01-19T18:13:00.006-05:00

Hope! A week after the earthquake in Haiti they are still finding people a live in the rubble.

She is a true personification of the people of Haiti!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/01/19/neely.haiti.wife.alive.itn?iref=allsearch

A family's determination saves a woman who was found and then given up on.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504033.html

More survivors

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/miraculous-rescues-continue-in-haiti-but-for-how-long/19322744

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta's twitter page

Folks waiting patiently for water in Port-au-Prince.

2010-01-18T11:53:00.002-05:00

When I see the images and hear the stories about what is happening in Haiti, it reminds me of an Octavia Butler novel. Everything is so apocalyptic and horrible. I've limited my exposure to media because I think it's traumatizing to keep looking at pics of devastation. In my true Libra I have to find the balance.

I found an article about a Haitian family with our last name. I called my mom and asked her if she had anything to tell me. She said there are Jean-Gilles' in Ti Goave, in Jacmel in Gonaives. They owned a hotel that collapsed during the earthquake.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/17/haiti.jacmel.hotel/index.html?iref=allsearch

Here is Nicole Lee is president of TransAfrican Forum. She gives some historical context to Haiti. It's Quick Time or Windows Media Player.

http://tavissmileyradio.com/guests10/011510/NicoleLee.html

Haiti

2010-01-17T10:02:00.004-05:00

Young film makers from Jacmel whose school was destroyed in the earthquake in Haiti went back to the school and found some video equipment and have been on the ground in Haiti sharing what they have seen.
http://www.cineinstitute.com/news/

http://vimeo.com/8779846

Latest News

Doctors Without Borders Cargo Plane With Full Hospital and Staff Blocked From Landing in Port-au-Prince
How many lives could they haves saved? How much relief could they have given? How many infections could they have prevented?

A quote I just heard this morning on Meet the Press. A US general being interviewed is asked, "How many US troops will it take to get Haiti secure?"
And this general had just said he has not witnessed any violence in Haiti. He was in the streets of Port au Prince yesterday and had good encounters with everyone.
Sigh. They are preparing for the impending violence. Air space is being used by the US military stalling the help further.
So sad.
Haiti needs food! There are still people trapped in the rubble.
3 million people need food. Some people are getting food and water. People are getting medical treatment.

Haitian Times Newspaper have sent reporters to Haiti! They landed in the Dominican Republic and made their way to Port au Prince.
http://www.bronxnewsnetwork.org/2010/01/help-local-reporters-in-haiti.html

Here is Garry Pierre-Pierre story his first night out with the people in the capital.
http://haitiantimes.com/bookmark/5577826/article-A%20Night%20on%20Rue%20Berne-Living%20on%20the%20Streets

Haiti Cherie

2010-01-15T17:55:00.023-05:00

My beloved country, how we suffer! Natural disasters happen, but they are so incredibly devastating to Haiti for many reasons. They are so bad because of things that happened in Haiti a long time ago and things not so long ago.
It started when the Spanish came and eradicated an entire civilization of Tainos. Then Africans were kidnapped, enslaved and brought in to work the fields. Forests were demolished to make room for the bounty of crops that the "Jewel of the Antilles" produced and exported. Which led the way to the current deforestation in the country.

Haiti was the only nation whose FREEDOM was gained through a successful slave rebellion. It was the 1st post colonial black people led nation! Slaves that ended their enslavement! They created their own armies to defeat those that had chained them.
In 1825 the French demanded restitution for money loss due to the slaves taking their freedom. And they had to pay so that France would recognize them.
Then then there are the coups that destabilized the government, corrupt presidents who stole millions, brutal dictatorships, embargoes, the slaughtering of millions of pigs in the 70's and 80's that Haitians counted on for food or to trade. US gov't forced Haiti to kill all because of "African swine flu" and then they had to import American mid west pigs who were not resilient.
And then there are the hurricanes.

Forward to our current crisis in Port au Prince. So many people have lost their lives. Numbers as high as 200,000 dead.
All of my immediate family is accounted for. A lot of good friends who have family have heard both positive and bad news. Mostly positive.
In Haiti it seems these tragedies they come one after the other, not giving enough time to get even rebuilt before the next event.

What can our hands do? Yes, hands move concrete! Families and neighbors move mountain of debris off of the living.
And wait.

I remember when I lived in Haiti when I was a child. My family lives in Gonaives which is in the north. I haven't been there since I was a kid. I remember freedom and security. I was only four and could walk alone or with my friend who was also four, to my aunt's house down the block.
I remember fruit trees. I remember the coral colored interior walls of our house, now broken and battered by the waters of Hurricane Jeanne that hit in Sept. 2004 and then a quadruple hit in 2008 by hurricanes, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike.
http://www.wunderground.com/education/haiti.asp?MR=1

Port au Prince is devastated! I am watching and reading the coverage a lot. My husband tries to stop me or he tells me to lessen the amount of media I expose myself to. It makes sense. So, I've pulled back. I want to know. I need to know. There are still so many unaccounted for. The dead lay in the street. It's so much!

I had to stop and ask what can I do?

I decided to provide links about donating, news, twitter updates and history. History is important. In the wake of the earthquake many bozos have stepped up and claimed they know why Haiti is the way it is. pat rbertson saying some pact with the devil was made. When it was the devil who had his boot on the neck of the people. But they rose up and took their place in history.

What I'm feeling is more than 420 characters. I gotta do this. For my own sanity, so I don't feel so helpless. It is the social networking sites like twitter and facebook getting information EVERYWHERE!

Here are some links-

A site where you can post names of people that are missing and where they live.
http://koneksyon.com/?CategoryID=2

This is Wyclef Jean's website. Please donate to Yele. They are on the ground in Port au Prince. Last night Wyclef said he spent the day with his wife picking up the dead off the street. He is on the front line of this mission to save lives. He is also calling on Haitians in the US to do something!
http://wyclefjean.wordpress.com/

An amazing and right on article by the great writer Farai Chideya called
"Haiti is cursed-by our ignorance."
http://www.faraichideya.com/haiti-is-cursed-by-our-ignorance/

Young Haitian film students who survived the earthquake are working on the streets to get images of the earthquakes aftermath! They are in Jacmel Haiti an area hard hit by the earthquake.
http://www.cineinstitute.com/news/

Folks who are giving information from Haiti-
On twitter- I've been following Richard Morse who is in Port-au-Prince and is trying his best to get out as much information as he can.
http://twitter.com/ramhaiti

This twitter page gives you blogs, pix, other tweeters all dealing with Haiti.
http://twitter.com/Haitifeed

Dr. Sanjay tweeting from Port au Prince. He is on the ground helping the injured and reporting what is going on.
http://twitter.com/sanjayguptaCNN

There is so much work to do.

Peace

Za's quote of the day

2010-01-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

So I'm wiping her nose cause she has a cold. She gets upset. And I asked her what her problem was. She says, "I wanted to eat that snot."
Of course I gave her the schpeel about this we eat and things we don't eat.
Me, "When things come out of our bodies, it means our body doesn't want it. So we shouldn't eat snot because that's nasty."

Halloween

2009-10-31T11:49:00.001-04:00

None of us have caught the flu. We were downing those fizzy vitamin c drinks and stinking up the house with our Garlic breaths.

Big girl is up and about. She is ready to go and trick or treat. We got the big bag of candy. She has a lot of energy, no fever since day two and she is eating everything. I want her to take it easy. It is a warmish night. I say OK you can trick or treat only on our block. I didn't want her walking around too much. We fashion some homemade costumes.
The three year is old is tired of it all quickly and not only refuses to go out to check out the trick or treaters, she yells at the ones who come to our door for candy.

H1NWHAT!

2009-10-27T11:37:00.000-04:00

Day ?

She’s eating! She started this morning complaining about her belly. She was nauseous and sick. She smelled sick and her cough was croupy and seemed to hurt.

I was ready for her to be better. I already went to the health food store and got some elderberry, her favorite drinks, little clemitine oranges, staples for soups for when she was feeling better.

First she asked for some crackers and then soup, tea, some fruit. She wanted toast! Yes! She is on her way to healing. I am so relieved!

Swine Flu Diary

2009-10-26T00:45:00.001-04:00

No fever! She’s sleeping a lot. When she wakes up she is not hungry. She doesn’t want to come downstairs and be with us she just wants to rest. When she finally wakes up she has to be coaxed to drink. She moans that her stomach hurts. Her head hurts.

She wakes up at 9:00 PM and is up. She has no appetite. D and I are working in the living room and dining room while she is laying on the couch. We give her a vitamin c lollypop which perks her up a tiny bit. I sit with her. I try to breathe. I try to take care of myself, so that I can take better care of her.
I regret watching the special on the swine flu! Kids in hospital, on oxygen.
My kid moaning.
I feel like something is trying to get me. My throat has that weird scratch before you get a cold. Fuck you flu! I felt run down but had to maintain. I have a scratchy throat. I think I’m dizzy.
Turns out I was just tired. I woke up fine the next day.

H1NWhat!!

2009-10-24T21:35:00.001-04:00

She woke up complaining about her stomach and chest. She had slept in one of her little sister’s dress(don't know why) and thought the pressure was coming from having worn something too tight and it was compressing her chest.
I was about to leave for work and I went in her room to talk to her and see what was happening. She looked terrible. I touched her skin and immediately knew had a fever, she had pains, she was crying. Her head was hurting, her eyes, her whole body. Took her temp. 104 fever!
Offered her something to drink and she asked for ice water.

I immediately called the doctor. The docs office phone was busy, busy and finally I was put on hold and then a nurse picked up. She said all the symptoms sound about right, it’s the flu. She won’t say the word! She said a lot of folks coming in with those same symptoms. "DON'T come in!" Give motrin and tyn. repeatedly. Only c0me in if she has breathing issues.
"Breathing issues?"
"Yes, she is struggling for breath or turning blue!"
Only then should we go in.

That was it? Where was the test?
"The doctor could call you if you have more concerns."
"Yes, please."

She ate when the motrn kicked in. She had four hours of feeling good and as that motrn effect wore off she was back to feeling awful.
Doctor called 7 hours later. She casually said my daughter had H1N1. Doc said go ahead and give her another dose of pain reliever. We gave it to her and she was up and talking. I'm not big with meds. The kids respond to a good diet and thoughtful assessment of what is missing or should added. Like vits or cod liver oil. Always with the garlic in the food.

We gave her garlic and ginger to chew. But it was amazing difference when she had relief from the fever and body aches. She was eating And drinking, watching television. Even playing with her sister. She rested.

Toddler turns three

2009-09-30T17:39:00.008-04:00

She has been singing things and saying things to the beat of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.

Zazu asked me what does "post haste" mean? She asked me what cumbersome was.

I asked where she learned that word and she didn't want to tell me.

She's got questions about everything. I have to stay on my toes because I am constantly being asked what the meaning of words are.

She's eating carrots and fruit now. She is still sort of picky but will eat a lot more natural stuff now then when she was a baby.

She has been saying sentences to the beat of Hey Jude by the beatles.

Zazu asked me what does "post haste" mean?

I asked where she learned that word and she didn't want to tell me.

She's got questions about everything. I have to stay on my toes because I am constantly being asked what the meaning of words are.

She's eating carrots and fruit now. She is still sort of picky but will eat a lot more natural stuff now then when she was a baby.

Now to get her stop peeing on herself and hitting her sister.

2009-08-01T12:46:00.002-04:00

A President who can read!!

Looking cool as can be.

Water Play

2009-06-20T01:00:00.010-04:00

Z at the sink having a grand time!

My daughter spent almost an hour standing on a chair at the kitchen sink, "washing dishes" She was so happy just pouring the water out from different cups. I threw in a water bottle and a sieve. I put in clean plastic bowls. She was happy, singing and content for a long time. While she did that I stayed close and cooked. I cleaned up too. She had a large bowl and pitcher that held the water. The chair is great but you do need to supervise them carefully. A step stool works good too. But the chair allowed her access to the faucet. I let her turn on the faucet and watch the water pour into the bowls. I spoke to her about saving water and not letting it just run. After telling her about conservation she followed me around the next few days telling me, "don't let the water run!" whenever I was doing dishes or brushing my teeth.

I saw a friend of mine do this when my daughter went to her house. She put some rags or towels on the floor. She had some large bowls and cups with water. My daughter poured the water from cups into the bowl. She sat down and had a great time. Again, she had to be monitored as to avoid a flood but otherwise she was great.

I think preparing the area with adequate rags and towels is most important and a large enough bowl. She had cups, small floating toys, spoons to mix.
A good tip: save old yogurt containers, spice containers with the the big and little holes. These are great water play accessories too.

Bath Time is great. Most kids like to be in the tub splashing and pretending swim. Once in a while let the kid play in the tub even if it's three in the afternoon. In the tub cups and bottles are great tub accessories. My daughter and I pretend that we are whales swimming in the ocean!

Outside Water play

Of course a little kids inflated pool is nice. Adults can sit in one of these too and cool down from the summer heat.

Those spinning sprayers are great. Games can be made about jumping over or going under the spray.

Letting them spray the hose and water the yard is so much fun. My daughter likes to fill a little watering can and go about the yard watering the different plants.

Go to a real pool. There are pools at gyms, at the Y, at some parks. Try to get to a pool this summer, the kids will love you for it.

Water parks are great. I'm not a big fan of amusement parks and long lines but there was a point in my life where I was and I loved it. That long slide straight into a cold pool has to be the best. I have lots of family and friends who have gone to water theme parks and they had complete blasts.

The Beach!

A small pond or stream. Contemplate a puddle. Kids LOVE puddles. Maybe it is the feeling of another world. Or it's a nice pool of water to splash in.

Go out in the rain. Bring umbrellas and take a walk! You are not made out of sugar though you are so sweet. You will not melt in the rain. I've seen a blind woman get on the bus with her toddler and seeing eye dog. A little rain can't keep you down or keep you stuck inside.

Water! Bountiful. We are made mostly of water.
All humans lived as merbabies growing within their moms before breathing air we breathed fluid.

Finished Novel

2009-06-14T02:22:00.003-04:00

This is the shelf where my books will be!
I finished a kids chapter book!

I've had this idea for three years now. My daughter and I had been talking about this story and acting out the story!

I've been querying like a mad woman....oh the world of publishing...so interesting and not at all intimate and cozy. more cold and despondent. anywhoo. so this agent said YES we want to read the whole book. uh uh I did not have a whole book. I had a bunch of ideas typed up, i had like four chapter done. I decided to finish the book. It took five days and hardly any sleep. my husband went out of town that week end. I kissed him bye and went back to work. I had both kids and household and somehow I pulled it off!

I had to jump back three times and KISS myself that is how proud I am that I did it.
I am now working on the second book. I am hoping this could be a series. It would be great to have more mulitcultural books out there. My daughter is an AVID reader and I would love if in the next few years my books get published. She is already reading my stuff and telling me what she thinks and giving ideas.

10 Reasons why Winnie the Pooh needs antidepressants

2009-05-24T04:14:00.008-04:00

1. OK his name is doodoo

2. He is an emotional eater

3. He runs out of honey and has to steal it from the bees

4. The bees promptly attack him and christopher robin

5. A great wind comes and blooooows piglet away

6. The wind knocks down owls house

7. Eeyore. Dude cheer up you live in the 100 acre woods

8. Eeyore the jerk goes to find owl a new house only to find piglets house and says it is owl's. No one corrects him and piglet just cries and accepts that his lovely house was now owl's house just cause Eeyore said so. Fuck Eeyore he is not your landlord. Piglet moves in with Winnie the Pooh

9. Pooh goes to visit Rabbit who tries to act like he's not home. But Pooh is the wiser and goes to his house and eats all Rabbits honey. All of it. And then gets stuck in Rabbits front door. Rabbit has to look at Poohs butt for days. And has to clean up the poopoo.

10. A great rain floods the woods washing piglet away. He has to be rescued by Pooh.

And i didn't even get into Rabbits hatred of Tigger and his evil plan to desert bouncy Tigger in some strange woods because Tigger bounced him one too many times.

Don't Bite Your sister

2009-05-07T23:34:00.007-04:00

Our youngest daughter is two and a half. She has an amazing mind and sometimes says things that are way beyond her years.
Yesterday she was cuddled up ready for her nap. She wanted me to lay down next to her but I wanted to get my coffee. We had just brushed our teeth a few moments before. She said, "Come on mom get in the bed!"
I said, "Hold on let me get my coffee."
She said, "You just brushed your teeth you can't drink coffee now come on."
Really kid.

She is a cool child. Very smart, funny, energetic, enthusiastic. She loves books and make believe. She is loving and likes to give kisses. Great hugger that kid.

There are times though when it all breaks loose. I will say no to something that was demanded and whoosh she turns into a screaming, crying, stomping, kicking fiery ball of toddler angst. She has cleared a table in one swoosh. Bowls, food, cups, juice all on the floor.
"You will clean up this mess and then sit in time out." Very serious face.

The tantrums range in intensity and time. Sometimes you can get her to calm down by talking to her. Once during a tantrum she instantly stopped and said, "Mommy that painting is in the shape of a diamond."
I said, "Yes dear it is." I tried to mask my amazement at how quickly she switched. Her cries sound so sad, so plaintive.
The legs kick. Often she will emit a high whining sound. And only sometimes tears. It's always loud.

The N word

She does not like to hear the word no. The word no immediately causes the legs to start stomping and the tears to fly out of her eyes to create a puddle that she will ultimately smear all over the living room floor o

Big sister was building a myriad of block towers that she refused to have knocked down. Toddler whose very genetic make up calls for her to knock them things down can't control self and knocks them all down as big sister wails for her not to knock them down.
"Hahaha." Toddler laughs at demolishing her sisters building. Finally big sister builds a massive tower on an unreachable spot on the dining room table. She tells little sister, "Do not knock it down. Little sister screams and as she is being held back she bites her big sister. No biting. No biting. you do not bite your sister. Now say you are sorry. You better say you are sorry.
-Sorry big sister.
-Now you have to sit in time out.
-I have to sit in time out.

With big sister I never had to tell her not to bite anyone. She just didn't do it. Why does this child bite her big sister? Why will she scream as if in the worse pain when she has to do a simple thing.

Pay

2009-04-12T07:21:00.005-04:00

I wonder how much parents who stay at home with their children would make if we got paid?
Maybe there would be incentives if your kid was not a jerk-tax break!
You would get a weekly paycheck and you would get so much OT! There would be insurance for stay at home parents.

Poem #1

2009-04-01T12:48:00.000-04:00

Frosted Daffodils

Sweet baby seeds
Crocus
And beginning grass
Coming out in all this cold
You don’t even have a coat
Just light petals
Curling opening buds
Taffeta leaves
Urging towards the bright sun
No sun today
Just gray thick clouds
And cold winds that shake the trees
And make whistling music through the house
A fire breasted robin scuttles on a red painted roof
Ying Yang weather
Yesterday we had thunder and sunshine
In the same sky
Warm and humid day
We found shelter in a crowded back porch
Watched the dark, screen blow in the high wind
The girls played a golf, racket ball hybrid
One half of our yard was being drenched and the other
sunny

2009-03-30T19:44:00.003-04:00

Article I found

The Wrap News
http://www.thewrap.com
Lionsgate Acquires 'For Colored Girls'
Studio gets worldwide rights to film version of the award-winning play

March 20, 2009, New York City.
By Wrap Staff

Lionsgate announced today that it has acquired worldwide rights to a planned screen version of the award-winning play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf."

The studio acquired worldwide rights to the 1975 stage play by Ntozake Shange, and the adapted screenplay written by Nzingha Stewart, who will direct the film. No cast has been set.

According to the studio, "the acquisition reflects Lionsgate’s leadership role in producing and distributing a diverse roster of motion pictures about black characters," in particular the Tyler Perry franchise.

2009-03-28T12:40:00.003-04:00

Back in the game

2009-03-17T04:08:00.006-04:00

It's only 4 in the morn. took a nap earlier this evening while i was trying to put the little one to bed. About to go back to bed.
I am a night owl tried and true. I come from a long line of night owls.
I am a night owl with early bird responsibilities.

Amazing Alvin Ailey Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eKHLBMZU6w&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu9dQcefHSc&feature=related

My Writing Life: I am obsessing over my query letter. Read and reread. I have to just send it out. I have two agents in mind. There are so many what ifs but I gotta do this.

Writing a query is nothing like writing fiction.

In the manuscript Papo has lost it and the main character has to confront this hard kinda mean grandmother about her grandfather.

Spring has Sprung: It's been cloudy and rainy the last few days.

While I was getting the mail met a neighbor who is writing childrens books. Wants to meet and talk the writing life.

Visual Arts: I made a new line of cards. Will post soon.

Kids Korner: Z was rockin' the toilet training now she's kinda regressed a little. She's still only in two diapers a day and when she wakes up from her nap she does not want to keep the diaper on.

2008-12-11T01:55:00.003-05:00

Late night in the country ass city. There is a nice fog and it's warm for December. Today I went out alone. It's strange sometimes because usually I'm in a constant state of mommy awareness when I'm out with the kids so to be out alone and only have my one self to be responsible for is strange and yet mildly familiar.

My writing world: It's getting lusher. I have a few notebooks that I carry around. I keep notes on the novel and write little journal type things in them. I have not been journaling as much as I used to. I used to be on it two to three pages of brain drain. Now, half a page to one page of interesting, good things, budgets, to do lists. I'm trying to get to the point that whenever my kids say something smart or funny I have the paper and pen right there ready.

I heard Toni Morrison on NPR today as I did the breakfast dishes. She spoke about a lot of stuff but what stuck with me was the idea of complicated characters. I look at the histories as I reread my current manuscript and do this literary sankofa and go back to my old edits and piece this book together because I've created real histories for my characters and they are not cardboard at all. Which is exciting because your characters then have depth. You empathize with them. You might see aspects of yourself. I've been editing forever but as I find out things like it took J Diaz eleven years to finish his last book I feel like OK I can do this.

I'm working on writing the latest synopsis. I realize some of the things in the summary are not directly talked about but are eluded to in the actual novel.
Get the whole description of the story in one page. I have something down for this new version. It's kinda fun.

On the bus: Today on the bus an ahole talked loudly to his friends about how he steals from certain stores that are not expecting him to steal. He said if they don't have what he wants by the door he is not taking it. "If I have to take an escalator, the steps or an elevator I ain't stealing it cause I'm gonna get caught." I openly stared. He didn't seem at all ashamed or regretful. He was also an older man in his late fifties maybe.

An annoying man sitting in front of a couple "is that man your father?"
"No he's my husband." she said. "No way, That guy is old." said the high drunk man
"No way!" everything the woman said he said "uh uh. nope. you are too young."
i heard her say she had children who were a certain age. I heard her say she was in her thirties. She was really explaining things to this person, eventually they got up and sat in the back of the bus. The same man started yelling "hey man reading the newspaper....hey man wearing glasses....dude with the vest.....hey sir." The man was smart and feigned interest in his paper.

2008-11-06T02:48:00.001-05:00

YES WE CAN!!!!

Be still......

2008-09-11T18:30:00.003-04:00

I noticed the firetrucks on my way to pick up my daughter. I did not think they had any thing to do with me. I turned the corner and I could smell the burning smell. And then I saw it a smoldering skyline. Dark towers melted from the scorching heat. A community playground had been set aflame. The firemen were still hosing it down. She leaned to the side. It is gone. Dark burnt wood against a periwinkle sky. A mom said it happened around 1pm and the arson team was there. wow, someone actually did that on purpose.
The playground had hardly any shade. The kids had fun. There was a tire swing that my daughter and I spun ourselves on till we felt nauseous even hours after. Well worth it though, to see the puffy clouds and blue umbrella sky spinning. It's like you have anti-gravity or you can fly. Lots of regular swings. Great little cubbies to hide, and steps to climb, tunnel slides and regular slides that burned your ass when the afternoon sun would bake the playground toys.
I cried. I didn't want my daughter to see that when she got off he school bus. The playground was behind her.
The bus came and my daughter was distracted by other things. As we left the area I told them we couldn't go to the playground. In the car ride home we told them the place had been burnt down. My daughter and her friend looked at each other with shock. Dramatic shock at that. Then they went back to whatever they were doing.
Just like that. I was all devastated wondering how dealing with this loss of a play ground would contribute to their sense of blah blah blah.
So the emails are going out and the community that built the playground are going to raise funds and rebuild the playground. The place was built by the people of the city. Who volunteered their time and energy. People donated money.
It will be rebuilt that is the lesson. It sucks that it has to be but it can be because the people are already rallying for it to happen. I will donate time and womanpower when it's needed.
That was on Tuesday.

Story Time-Today I went to storytime. Oh on Monday we went to this musical storytime where the performer has a guitar and she played all the kid classics. She was really lively. It was at a bookstore that was packed. I met a caretaker from Ghana. She said I'm from Ghana, there are no elephants on the streets."
"I come from city just like New York." Children have a misconception of Africa because of the African Jungle Alphabets simplifies Africa. Africa is a huge continent with so many cultures and languages and beliefs and traditions. The nanny found an old friend and they hugged happily. The friends said, "I was thinking about you."

I'm gonna give the story hour by my house another chance. It was so not diverse. There were diverse caretakers, Nannies, one daddy, au pair, grandma's. The lady at the regular story hour forgets the lyrics to the nursery rhymes. Sometimes she doesn't let all the children knock down Humpty Dumpty or throw the pig in the air or hit the tambourine to the syllables of their name.
Overheard, Quote of the day. "Be still and know that I am God." This quote resonates with me because in meditation is where you can have this relationship with god. Through breath and stillness.

I have a two year old now!

In writing: I finally found my memory stick. Trying not to panic I found other missing items that I would not have found if I had not been cleaning up/looking for the memory stick.

I'm back to editing. I'm punking out of writing the new stuff that NEEDS to be written so that I have a finished manuscript but I haven't gotten there. I really like the story I'm working on. But why am I not writing the new stuff? Maybe I need to do some concise chapter summaries or something to get this moving. It's been slow. I'm gonna get back to collaging soon.

Night Owling

2008-09-06T03:18:00.005-04:00

I come from a long line of night owls. I am a night owl with early bird responsibilities.

When the house is oh so quiet I sometimes just sit and inhale the silence.
There is nothing else left to do. Everyone is asleep. No one to look after except myself for the moment.
The writing pours out of me. I am glad I can type fast without getting caught up in looking at the keyboard.

Outside my office window, which is usually loud with nature's music, is silent as robins, sparrows, cardinals and wood peckers sleep.

Raccoons bring the party during the night. They screech and fuss at each other. They walk on our roof with raccoon boots. They swing and slide on the neighbor's swing set.

This is the time I write and work on my novel. I catch up on email. I search for that agent. Maybe I'll work on a collage or a new greeting card design. I might catch up on 30 rock or Lost. I can get a bunch of windows open at once on the Mackie Mac. Working on this a little and then work on the next thing.

Haiti
I have to send some blessings and prayers to Haiti. My people who have suffered so many losses when two, three hurricanes hit the island back to back. I ask the universe to please protect my people.

When i was little I lived on the island. There are things I remember very clearly. In the 70's we used an outhouse. The gray brown out house with the terrible poopoo smell and dark foreboding hole where I threw stones and wads of balled up toilet paper.

I remember my mother coming home in a white uniform. I lived in a turquoise house with coral pink walls inside.
I had many cousins and I was free to roam as far as I could. I never got lost. I never went too far. I had two grandmothers and so many aunts ready to feed me, or spank me depending on their moods. I played with dried mango seed which was my doll and played jacks with dried pig knuckles. I never went hungry. I never felt poor.
Bless Haiti who held me in her arms for those two years I lived there where I unlearned American English and renamed my Grandmother "Big". The whole family started calling her that.

An island already devastated now must deal with this. I hope the new administration really gives Haiti some positive attention in the form of money, agricultural assistant, food aid, job production for road building and food growing. Haiti was the first free black nation in the Western Hemisphere. The people fought back against the people that held them as slaves and defeated them! Is this why the island is left to perish. Is there a long held grudge against this tiny island because of Haiti's revolution. Meanwhile children eat dirt cakes to stop the hunger pains.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get a scaled down version of a hurricane.

Peace

1st days

2008-08-30T14:02:00.004-04:00

School has started. My big girl actually has a real school building with a playground and everything. Last year classes were held in a cut up gym. First graders in one "room" and second graders in another "room" and kindergartners in the cafeteria which was broken up too. Despite that this experiential learning was fabulous. The school teaches hands on learning. Do it to learn it. They did really well with what little they had and my daughter loved it and flourished. The whole summer was spent renovating the new space. Every grade has a classroom and there's a real gym and an art room. They even have a music room. The paperwork has already started coming home. Weekly bulletins, things to fill out.

I am on a paper purging mission. Papers have got to go. So I'm pulling out the file folders and the labels, the paper shredder.
It's quiet with the little tree in school. I've been on an editing zeal. Cutting the beginning of the novel up like crazy. It's painful and yet liberating at the same time. If it's not essential I cut it and I have to be ninja ruthless with it too.
When ever I sit at the computer or I write something for the novel in my journal I feel like I am flying. My fingers just zoom across the keyboard and I swear i glow.

I saw the couple who I had seen arguing. I remembered her because of her red curly weave and he had braids. They were walking together his arms around her and her arms around him looking very cozy!?

I wanna send a shout out to the Brooklyn massive. Millions of people will converge on Eastern Parkway monday for the loudest funnest brightest raunchiest parade. It's hot and sweaty and Caribbean African to it's core. Love it.

Oh the freaking drama

2008-08-26T23:12:00.004-04:00

We are on our way to storytime. I push zazu in the stroller. We get to the bus stop no one is waiting. Meaning we just missed it. Usually there is a crew of folks. Most are normal folks, some gang members, a few are users, drinkers, drug addicts. I once saw a woman dozing off from her high. She was holding a little baby in her arms. He was in blue and had a blanket loose around him. She was sitting on the bench under the bus shelter. I woke her up. "Oh, how old is your sweet baby?"
"Oh, he's three months." She said slowly lifting her head and sitting up a little bit. She pulled the baby closer.
"I have little ones too." I said trying to keep her on earth. I would catch that baby. She said, "I'm not even waiting for the bus. I'm waiting for nicky to come back."
"Oh cause I was going to tell you that the bus is coming." I didn't want to leave. She was alert now. She pushed her long, thin blond hair back away from her shoulder.
"I'm OK. The baby is OK." She said in molasses. I doubted that big time. She nodded at me. A thin guy with hair the same color as hers approached.
The lady said, "Here comes your bus." I got on the bus staring out the window at them.

That memory lingers with me as I decide to walk. The library is about a mile away. I can do that easy. I am a New Yorker after all. I love walking. I take to the bright busy streets. Gritty to say the least.
I get to a bus stop three blocks away. It's a major intersection. I check down the street to see if a bus is coming, I would hop on. No bus and I wait for the light to change. Cut to the couple having the argument. He is up in her face saying something. She steps back yelling back at him. I didn't want to look. My heart is pounding. I cross the street. The woman yells loudly, "Don't you put your hands on me" as I am crossing the street. I am upset. I don't know what to do. He follows her seeming threatening. Yells at her to come back. She disappears down a hill and he starts walking in my direction and then quickly changes his mind. He goes back towards her. I I can hear the woman yelling at the man. A group of men are watching. They have come out of the store and are all standing outside. I implore the men.
"Please go help her. She needs help. Don't just stand there. Go!" My toddler keeps repeating, "Go, go." Two men go down. Nobody says anything.
The men come back shaking their heads, "They gone." The light skin guy says. Then they go back into the store talking about what they saw. I stand there for a moment. Afraid for that woman. I think about a woman I know who goes through that daily. I witnessed her partner losing his temper and hurt her in the parking lot of Chuckie Cheese while we were getting the children in the car. The woman had zoomed out of the parking lot leaving her partner temporarily in the dust.
As I walk away I think of the other women who deal with that daily. Zazu calls me and I go to her. "Happy mama?" I smile at her sweet face. I take a deep breath.
"OK baby let's go to story time." I smile genuinely at her. I straighten up and look around and people rush by going their way. It didn't seem as if they had seen or heard anything. I am back on track and I pray that man let her be or someone made him let her be. I feel helpless. All i can do is give ether. I feel thankful for my partner and life situation.
I start really thinking about my life. What am I doing with my gifts? I think about my writing workshops and what my goals are for them. I think about that woman. I distract myself with lists of goals. Teaching is something i love and do well. The couple keep coming back to me and I tell myself there is nothing I can do about it. I notice a woman about to cross the street with two girls and a teen age boy. Though I didn't recognize her at first she is a person who has taken one of my workshops. I want to say something about what I have just seen but her children are there and they are
young girls. We chat and she makes faces at zazu. I fold the stroller and the bus comes. We chat on the bus and I get off at my stop. My thoughts once again reflected back to me.
Storytime was great. Two new songs, one involves jumping up and down. The monkey chases a weasel and pop goes the weasel. What does that mean? Why is the weasel going pop? Why can't the story time lady remember the words to the songs.
One of the moms at story time said she got her bar and had just started working two days a week at a law firm. Her face had that glow of freedom. I know I get it when I have some time away from the children and I can focus on my novel or when I'm teaching.
End of story hour we go to the playground. I realize the power of presence as I helped my daughter walk on a thin beam. I felt so present with her there. There was no place else I needed to be. I felt that so strongly and concretely. It was almost an epiphany.
We go to this store to buy water and goldfish crackers. Outside of the store we open the bag and I eat one as my daughter eats one too. Mine taste a little strange. Is that peanut butter? I take the bag from Zazu instinctively I look at the date. Don't know why. The crackers had expired LAST November as in 2007! I was flabbergasted. I went back in the store and I showed the bag to a manager. He shrugged and said.
"Whoa. OK sorry about that. Do you want another one?"
"Yes I do. But why do you have expired food on your shelf?"
"I'm sorry Miss." He takes the old bag and walks to where I got the crackers. He checks and picks up an entire case of expired stuff. He hands me a fresher bag And he walks away. I know you don't give a shit but Dang.
I look on the shelf and find more expired bags. I show it to the next manager and told him the situation. . I get his name. I tell him if my kid gets sick I am going to call you guys and going to call the media. Will you help pay for any medical bills? No. I lectured him a while longer and he remained apologetic saying that it reflected badly on him and that I should call. The security guard had gotten closer to us. As I was leaving I told the cashier who had helped me that the the store was selling expired food. i left the store. What if she had eaten the whole bag without me noticing? What ifs danced before me. She didn't eat the whole bag. She only age half of one and I had made her spit out the piece she had already started to eat. I could have fussed more I guess. I just left with a name and a new bag of chips. My only plan was to watch my girl make sure she is OK and call the media maybe NPR if she did get sick. We were fine. But damn they could not offer any type of reason why the store would have expired food on their shelves.
Going home was quiet sort of since we had to take the bus. Nothing else dramatic happened. I wondered about what happened to the woman. I gray cloud stayed with me worrying about her.

Pregnancy Anorexia

2008-08-14T23:40:00.004-04:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1041605/Plague-pregorexics-How-women-dieting-exercising-pregnancy-cost-babys-health.html

This is a link that will take you to a disturbing story about women who do hard exercise and diet while pregnant so they don't get fat. You are supposed to get fat. That's the only darn time a woman can get fat and have people smiling at her.
Our one sacred time and here comes trends and celebrities fouling it up. Women see pix of super skinny so and so two days after having her C section and think that is somehow natural. It ain't natural it's for million dollar movie roles and commercials not for real life.

Country City

2008-08-12T03:14:00.003-04:00

Country City

Outside my office window there are sounds of a raccoon outside. It is on the roof then it's in a tree. Clicking in racoony. He climbs the tree and distracts me from pseudo research.
There is a a squirrel that chills on our front steps devouring pine cones. The porch and steps are littered with little pieces of pine cone. It looks like how the living room might look after Family Movie night and a toddler was involved in munching on snacks.
There is a large white rabbit hopping freely in fields of the wooded college campus not far from our home. It's both house and free rabbit. My daughter tries to out run the storm clouds as we walk back home from errands.
Bright pink flowers decorate tall bushes with extending branches.
the sound of crickets so loud it's blaring somehow we are used to it
the cicadas too loud ass folks
the spider webs everywhere
spiders outside the door
dazzling green
a pink bit of sunset intermingling with a blue gray evening sky
the home for the mental infirm live on the corner where country turns to city
the smells of the honeysuckles replaced with
beef burger french fries bus stinky

Blind woman and toddler-Everyday Courage

2008-05-19T13:16:00.007-04:00

Blind Woman and her toddler

A black Labrador seeing-eye dog guides a blind woman into the sing along story-time at this library around my way. The woman has a toddler in a carrier on her back. He looks at us and waves. She seems familiar with the layout. There are tables pushed against a wall. Her fingers trail the tables as the dog guides her through the rec room. Women and children open up the circle for them. She sits on the floor and takes the toddler out of the backpack. Mamas, dads, nanas and nannies sit on a blue alphabet mat with sweet chubby babies on our laps. Several of the children refuse to sit still and are being chased. The story-time lady gives everyone rattles to make music with. She forgets the lyrics to "We're going to Kentucky."

The blind woman’s little boy has a monkey backpack with a leash attached to it. He keeps having to be pulled back away from the crates of colorful scarves and furry animal puppets that he can see. She tries to hold him while singing, "Are you sleeping". Her baby sits for a moment and he gets squirmy. He has bells on the back of his sandals so she can keep auditory tabs on him.
The child next to the beautiful shiny black seeing eye dog is playing with it's tail. It does not react. The dog lays heavy on the mat waiting for his next task. The children pet him, some avoid him as we march around in a circle. The mom stays to the side and marches in place leaving the dog in the center.
At the end of the story-time a few of us are left gathering our children and talking. The blind mom comments on her son missing his nap the day before. This gets us all into a lively toddler sleep deprivation discussion. She gathers her son and herself to leave. I stay behind as my daughter climbs up and down and up and down a few steps and stands next to her toddler friends.
I sometimes find it challenging to leave the house with my own toddler. There are diapers with changing pad and snacks, wipes, entertainment, stroller, change of clothes, juice, book. Then your own keys, phone, bag, money, jacket... Then the getting changed and dressed and shoes on....I tried to imagine what she dealt with doing it as a blind person. Leaving the house has to be an act of daily courage. Could I be that brave in my everyday life?

I wondered how she got to the story-time. And one day I saw her waiting for the light to change, toddler on her back and her seeing-eye dog very attentive as cars and buses rumble passed.

I saw her again recently, this time walking with just the walking stick and her toddler with the same monkey backpack with the leash attached. They walked up the block to the bus stop where I was. They turned the corner as a bus pulled up. Her child said, "Bus mommy."
She said, "Already?"
I said, "It's a 22 bus."
"That's what I need."She said. The bus driver lowered the bus steps for her to get on easier. She picked up her son and put him on. She stepped in and up and then went in her pocket for change. Doors close. My older daughter and her friend who had witnessed the two were staring at the departing bus. Then they looked at each other in amazement and said, "Whoa!"
And then I see her at the supermarket. She is pushing a stroller and is carrying a basket. There is a somber looking worker walking with her. I hear her say, "sweet potatoes".
I wonder if he will help her pick good produce.

Life is the Art

2008-03-22T17:43:00.003-04:00

In my art life
I took the lap top downstairs but played Win Lose or Draw with D and didn't work on anything.

Today Saturday the 22 of March, I am making Alphabet letters out of magazine clippings so we can scan them and make an animation for our 18 month old daughter.
That is creative and fun.
My Vision board is still half down. Oak tag with beautifully covered surface and bare space. What should I put there? I know what I want but can a magazine picture say it. I'll find quotes and put that on there.
Visions Boards are visual representations of the things you want to manifest in your life. To make one you use a big piece of canvas or oak tag. Look in mags, books to find images. Look at it daily to remind you of your goals.

Freewriting

2008-03-17T01:06:00.003-04:00

It started at this intentions meeting. A group of people sat around and gave positive energy to your goals and dreams after you stated them out loud. It was an awesome meeting and very powerful. One of my intentions was that I was teaching successful writing workshops that help people write free and help them cure writers' block. My friend called me and asked if I would be interested in doing some workshops she just got a studio where I could do them. Of course I marveled at at how quickly this goal came to fruition. I believe.
I had a workshop yesterday. I used different sensual stimulation and the participants wrote off of smelling nutmeg(me), mint and vanilla. We wrote about the tastes of summer and what seeing the image of a beautiful elder woman holding the earth in her hand, her knowing smile kind and welcoming. For this class we did four and five minute freewrites. We used word prompts that i clipped from magazines.

Sometimes our creative selves just need a non-judgmental place of expression. Freewriting helps you write without constraints.

Here are a few freewriting facts

* Freewriting is a really helpful writing activity that allows a person to write without stopping.

* Write fast, don’t let the self-censor get you, it’s that sly voice in your head that says your writing is no good and it’s all pointless. You can’t listen to that cause you can’t stop.

* Don’t start thinking how great your writing is. Stay focused.
* You don’t have to worry about mipelling or punctuation

* There is no erasing or backspacing. No stopping, no erasing.

* If you can’t think of anything to write then put down “I can’t think of anything” or “I don’t know what to write” over and over again till something else comes.

* Freewriting is a technique designed to help the writer find their style and voice through uninhibited expression.