Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition: an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.

I had a weird day. As a volunteer with Project Homeless Connect, I spent the day with a woman who currently lives under a bridge, sitting with her while she talked to a medical professionals, making sure they were listening and responding to her, keeping her company while she got her hair cut, helping her get some food, listening to her tell her story. At the end of the day, I rode in the van that took her back to her home under the bridge. She's 33 (3 years younger than me).

Then, tonight, I went to a mandatory parent meeting at Sam's school where after we paid for damage insurance, they gave each of these 6th graders brand new MacBooks (laptops).

I'm glad my child has so much but don't know how to reconcile that with so many having so little. It reminds me of this quote from the FDR Memorial in DC.

The cult is called America...

This morning, I was feeling tired of the fighting and needed some inspiring. I found it here.



I loved this video when I first saw it a week or so ago but have been trying to not be too over the top in my adulation of this man and chanting his name did seem a bit excessive but I'm feeling discouraged at the idea that some people really think the other option is viable.

I agree with what Will.i.am said and hope you do too.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.


Hope. Act. Change. Vote.

Ones Song

by will.i.am

people say Obama’s words are just words...
but...
when was the last time "words" weren’t important...???...

when was the last time a great leader didn’t use words to lead...??...
when was the last time a person didn’t use words to describe how they felt...?...
when was the last time "words" weren’t empowering...?...

and we can all recall the last time "words" were used to divide us and install fear...

Bush used words to fear us into voting for him the second time around...
terror this...
terror that...
nuclear here...
weapons of mass destruction there...

and those words effected a lot of people’s choices...

"enough is enough"...
let’s rebuild...

let’s change ourselves...
let’s allow positivity to guide us...

let's take action....
let’s activate our passion...
we are Americans....

and this is the first time in forever that someone running for president represents "US"...

some say this is all excitement...
I call it “proud to be an American”...

some say this whole Obama movement is "cult like"...
well...
if it comes across cult like...
then...
the cult is called America...

the Obama movement is connecting America.
and it has made "US" realize our importance...
the youth is excited and activated...
adults are passionate and motivated...
the elderly are proud to know the country they built is in safe hands...

we are one...

for too long politics has been corrupt...
separate from the American people...
with agendas that go against what the American people "need"...
education...
health...
safety...
jobs
etc...

politicians have spoken a different language...
making it so the youth and poor people feel as if voting was only for the wealthy and old people...
making "US" feel as if "we" had no voice...
making "US" feel powerless...
making it feel like if "we" did vote it wouldn’t change anything...

but wait...
that did happen...
some of us voted, and it didn’t change anything...

we were in the dark...
we had no voice...
we were powerless...

because America was not a united America...
and "they" spoke a different language...
and they had an agenda different from our well being...

correct me if I’m wrong... or speak up if I’m missing something...

we want education, health, safety, and good jobs...right???...
oh yeah...
and "a healthy planet to live on"...

but here we are...

in a war... poor education... poor health programs... the dollar is down... the planet, polluted...
the rich, richer... and the poor, struggling...
with sky high gas prices to top it all off...

and now even the rich aren't really rich internationally because our dollar is has fallen so far down...

in our slumber... a very small few got really rich...

because when you’re sleeping...

"it’s hard to change agendas"...

we know what happened in 2000 and 2004...
but in 2008...
it’s different...

we are awake...
and there is a movement...

and "it’s hard to change a movement"...

last time "we" didn’t have a movement...
America wasn’t united...

and now "United and "Standing"...for something...
we know the power of "US"...
and we have a person who represents the "U.S."...

"US"…

"we are the ones we’ve been waiting for"...

I’m proud to be an American...

will.i.am

Friday, September 05, 2008

Make-up Birthday Bonfire at Muir Beach

When we started planning Sam's 11th birthday party, it sounded like at least two of the friends he wanted to invite weren't going to be able to make it. So, we decided to host a make-up party (like last year) for Wiley and Eric. It turned out that Eric was able to come to the first party after all but we asked him to come along on the second one anyway. Last weekend, on the 30th of August, while Cam was visiting the Maddux clan, in Chicago, I took one car load of boys with me to the beach.

When Cam's around, I don't normally make the fire. I don't normally carry firewood either. This time, I carried some but the kids helped by carrying some of the heavy bundles of firewood too. Sam and Wiley had been working together to transport one bundle, sometimes carrying it then turning it end over end or rolling it. After carrying one bundle of his own, Eric went back and picked theirs up for them. I hope they weren't sore the next day. I was, embarrassingly.

After two trips from the car, when all of our stuff was unloaded, the kids headed towards the water. The weather was lovely. We didn't have as much wind this time but it may have been a bit cooler. No one went swimming. They contentedly built elaborate and interesting sand sculptures, instead.

I started trying to build a fire. I'd brought what I thought was a fire starting log (with all natural ingre-
dients). The directions said I didn't need paper so I didn't bring any. I'm not sure why I thought one box of already-opened matches was plenty. I really thought I would only need a few. Of course, the wind kept blowing the matches out and I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

Humbled, I appro-
ached some folks on the beach who had a fire success-
fully burning. They had a lighter (the kind you use to light a grill) which they generously lent to me. The boys came up from the beach and wanted to help. Eric suggested we use one of the blankets as a wind block. Great idea but I still couldn't even get the lighter to stay lit. Discouraged, we returned the it. Thankfully, a man named Ernie took pity on me and came over to start our fire.

He suggested moving the materials down behind the mound I had them sitting upon to use it as added windbreak. Then, he asked for paper. I did have the instructions for our hike to Pirate's Cove, "Seek it if you dare." Since none of the kids wanted to hike, we happily crumpled them up and burned them. At Wiley's mom's suggestion, I'd brought things to read. While I didn't get to read the Time magazine with Barack's picture on the front, it made great kindling. Cam pointed out that my magazine wasn't all natural or non-toxic but it burned.

The boys roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, drank their natural soda, then started burning sticks. I told them how, "No playing in the fire" had been a rule at the first birthday party. A few minutes later, they were still curiously experimenting with fire on the end of their sticks. I thought about calling them out on it but I also thought about how they will be having bonfires on their own before we turn around twice. So, I decided to just document and observe.

Later, I remembered how when I was young, my mom told my brother and I that we could play with matches whenever we wanted, provided an adult was around. I guess I think the idea has some merit. We know kids are curious and will experiment. I believe it is safer for them to do it in front of us than behind our backs.

In some of the shots, taken through the flames, the kids look awfully close to the fire. I think some of them are beautiful and hope the boys' parents will agree.

I want to thank them for letting their sons come out and celebrate with us. It was great fun.

This Flickr set has more photos of the make-up birthday bonfire at Muir Beach.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Ariel's Back - Meet Jac

For about nine months, from early December of '06 to early September of '07, my cousin Ariel tried out the idea of living and working in the Bay Area. She overcame struggles and achieved successes. We had lots of fun exploring and spending time with her.

However, last fall, she decided to return to the Midwest to reconnect with family and friends there. Then, she went back to Orlando to take a few classes. There, she met Jac. The two of them conspired to try living and working out here when he finished his program.

They arrived in August. Sam and I had dinner with them once before they headed down to the Monterrey Bay area to work for a couple of weeks.

The weekend before last, on the 23rd, Cam joined us and we all took a hike to Tennessee Valley Beach. It was a lovely day and great fun being with them. We're glad they are here. Here are more photos of our hike.

Monday, September 01, 2008

DC in Detail

On June 8th, I posted a rough recap of our first day in DC (that Saturday, June 7th). I promised to repost an edited version with photos. Here goes.

We woke up and bolted out of here at 7:45 am, rushing to the Metro to try to get tickets that would allow us to go to the top of the Washington Monument, later that day.

They they start giving them away at 8:30am so we thought we had left in plenty of time but we actually got the last set of three together. I called my folks to say, "Hi" but wasn't up for talking much. It was still before 6am in California. I was hot the weather was muggy and I hadn't had breakfast or any caffeine. We got the last 3 tickets for the last slot of the day which was what we wanted as we had tickets for other activities at noon and 7pm.

Next, we walked to the Jefferson National Memorial. It was beautiful and impressive. I had never seen it up close. I liked reading the words to the Declaration of Independence from inside the monument.

A kid from Wisconsin asked Sam where he was from. When he said, San Francisco, they asked, "You've been on the Golden Gate Bridge?" When he answered, "Yes," he was congratulated. Another kid from the group said, "We should take a picture w/this kid." They did. Outside, a small high school (or middle school) band was playing the Star Spangled Banner and other patriotic songs. It brought back memories of traveling and performing with the band when I was in school junior high and high school.

We walked past where the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, where they print the paper money. (Which we learned isn't actually made of paper but fiber-like cotton, according to our tour guide that night.)

Outside the Holocaust Museum, I admired Ronald Regan's words that were engraved on one of the walls. Since we still had some time before our tour of the Holocaust Museum, we had some breakfast, including a knish. It was nice to cool-off, relax and refuel. The ladies made a delicious iced vanilla coffee drink for me. The caffeine and air conditioning helped.

We decided to go check out the WWII Memorial. That morning, my mom mentioned that it was one of the newer memorials and none of us had seen it before. There wasn't much shade so our walk there was hot. I was moved by Bronze panels, which told stories of people's experience's during WWI, on the walkway to and from the fountain.

From there, we saw the White House in the distance, as we walked around the Washington Monument, instead of cutting through the center of the park, to stay in the shade of the trees on the periphery.








I wish we'd have been there a couple of weeks before, to witness the Forgotten Children Exhibit. For one work week, CASA staff, volunteers and supporters placed 850 life-size displays of foster children at the Washington Monument, each day. These displays represented the 850 children who enter the foster care system on a daily basis. By the end of the week, 4,250 displays stood in front of the monument, representing the 4,250 children who entered foster care during the workweek. (photo credit)

Near our admission time, we returned to the Holocaust Museum. The first exhibit we toured was in the basement. It featured the Nazi Olympics held in Berlin in 1936.

Before entering The Holocaust's permanent exhibit, each of us selected the ID card bearing information about a person who was Jewish and their experience, during the Holocaust. Two of the three people, whose ID card we selected, died. From what I understand, seems to be representative of what happened to the millions of people were wrongly persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered during that time.

Walking through the exhibit that day, seemed to be the first in-depth telling of the history of the Holocaust that Sam had experienced. I was proud of his seriousness and willingness to watch, listen and learn. I learned much too.

Walking through Daniel's Story, a Child's Story of the Holocaust, helped person-
alize the infor-
mation and bring the experience to life for us. It was a lot to absorb but incredibly important. Awhile ago, as a family, we started reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I would like to finish it soon. I just saw that they are making it into a movie that will be released on November 7th.

We thought about eating on the grounds of the Washington Monument but it really felt like we were in a sauna outside so we opted for another hour of air conditioning and ended up having lunch in the cafe of the Museum of Natural History. I was happy to be able to have an egg plant sandwich and a salad (even if they were just OK). Sam shared his fries and Cam and I split a chocolate bar.

Our next stop was the Washington Monument. Before arriving in DC, I'd been saying that I'd wanted to go to the top of it my whole life. Standing at the base of it that morning, I remembered that I had been to the top of it when I was here with my 6th grade class. What I'd remembered before this visit was that I hadn't been able to go to the top the last time I was here, when Sam was three. This time, we had tickets.

Thankfully, the bench for people with tickets for the 4:30pm tour was in the shadow of the monument. Sam and I reminisced about how we liked to go to the top of the Arch when we lived in St. Louis. We also talked about how we had gone to the top of the John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower in Chicago. I just remembered that I also called him from the top of the Empire State Building, when I was in NYC for work, when he was five. The view from the top of the Washington monument is impressive on each of the four sides.

Once we were back on the ground, we took a walk along a park, past the White House, to the National Archives building. We talked about how this was the place where Nicholas Cage stole the Declaration of Independence in that National Treasure movie. We stood in line to get inside the building then stood in line to get to see the documents. It was memorable to be that close to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

Afterwards, we walked towards the Capitol, along another park and arrived at Union Station. In a bit, we'd catch a trolley that would take us on a night tour of the monuments. In the meantime, we enjoyed some well-deserved Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Of course, the child opted for a fruit smoothie. My Chunky Monkey (banana ice cream w/walnuts and chocolate chunks) in a waffle cone was quite enjoyable.

Jazzy Jan was our driver and tour guide on the trolley. She was infor-
mative, humorous and fun. She kept us moving but made sure we had just enough time at each stop.

The first stop was at the Franklin Delanor Roosevelt Memorial. I hadn't been to the FDR memorial before. His quotes about social responsibility are inspiring to me. (photo credit)

(As I was writing this post, I received a text message from Barack Obama asking me to make a donation to the American Red Cross. I did. You can too.)

The sunset was lovely.

Our next stop was near the Lincoln Memorial. We walked over the the Vietnam National Memorial first.

Explaining to Sam that each name, which took up such a tiny bit of space, represented a life made the magnitude of the wall's size significant.


I told him about how I'd been there with my family when I was about his age.

Here is the photo, I mentioned previously, of my brother standing next to my dad at the wall.

I remember my dad being moved when he found the names of men he knew on the wall.


After the Vietnam War Memorial, we walked up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to go meet Abe. He is impressive.

We read the Gettysburg Address and then sat on the steps of the monument, looking out on the Reflecting Pool, the WWII Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capitol in the distance.

There was a storm brewing in the area and we enjoyed seeing streaks of lightning in the distance. Sometimes, the lightning would light up the clouds.

Before returning to the trolley, we walked through the Korean War Memorial. The faces of the men looking out at us were captivating. (photo credit)

Our final stop on the trolley was the Iwo Jima Memorial. We learned that the statue, of the men raising a flag on the top of the island's highest point, is the largest bronze sculpture in the world. (photo credit)

We learned other interesting pieces of information, as it started to rain and we rode the trolley back to Union Station. From there, we took the Metro back to the stop closest to our hotel and went back to the room to rest and relax.

After a shower, I watched a video of Hilary Clinton calling on her supporters to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States. It was a day full of patriotic experiences.

Cam's 91-year-old grandmother, Lurene and his dad's sister, his Aunt Mary Lu, came into DC, from Maryland, to spend the day with Cameron and Sam. They went to the Native American Museum for lunch. I'm glad I was able to to see them for a few minutes before I headed off to my conference. It sounded like they had a great day.

Cam's does an effective job of summing up the rest of the trip with this list.

We were all learning, each day. Maybe another day, I will write a separate blog post about how I got to go to Capitol Hill and meet with representatives from Congress, including Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's cheif of staff, asking them to do more for our kids. Their interest and concern was moving.