(LA -> DC) big week ahead

pressure's on this week to figure out new job situaiton and catch up on my coursework and re-center.

(dc -> LA n 172 p 4) crime week - guns and steal

colleen was robbed at gunpoint outside my door last night. she had just left the studio, where we were working on the ruhi book 2 project, when she rang the doorbell again urgently. i went to the window and she said, "let me in, quick!" i knew something was wrong, because colleen is usually super chill. i ran downstairs and she said, "i've just had my car stolen, and my purse and computer and phone...c'mon! let's call the police!" if only i'd been watching my window, i would have seen the whole thing. she had gotten in her car and sneezed. after the sneeze, she went to lock the door and, instead, it opened. she had a relaxed conversation with the tall, dark, 20-something black man who was pointing the gun at her. she said, "what are you doing?"
"what does it look like i'm doing? get out of the car!"
"i don't think i want to do that."
"what, does this look like a toy?"
"no, it looks pretty serious."
when she went to take her purse, he said "leave the purse....and the phone."
he made her get down on the ground facing away from him and then drove off with keli's car and all her stuff.

this comes less than a week after i got defrauded on ebay/paypal for $1500. i sold a camera and shipped it to the ukraine (i know, shut up) for a buyer who had paid me on paypal, only to find out after the camera left the country that the buyer had used a stolen credit card. justin said he'd write this story, so stay tuned.

sigh.

addendum 5:22pm

colleen talked the detective who showed up on the scene into taking the case ("noooo, i want YOU on the case! YOU'RE the ONLY one who can find my car!"). sometime between midnight and 6am, he found her car and caught the guy. they recovered all her stuff except her license, debit card, and $30 cash. lucky lucky.

(dc g7 171 p 7) everyone is beautiful under a waterfall

i want to share some stories from this weekend's camping trip, but instead, i'm going to get to work here. i'll post photos later, when i receive them from the people who had cameras. however, just so i don't forget, here are some highlights:

* swimming in the river - under/behind waterfalls (keli says everyone looks beautiful under a waterfall), sliding down rocks in the waterfalls, karina accidentally going over the big waterfall, diving off cliffs into the river, trying not to notice how nasty the water was, getting my ring ripped off my finger by a rock in the rapids (ok, that was a bad highlight - bloody finger, no more Baha'i ring :( )

* the trip to walmart - the first night in the tent was tortuous due to snoring, so saturday night we set out to buy earplugs (and other sundry items) at walmart. we stopped to get directions from a local who was wearing the classic "wanted, dead not alive" bin laden tshirt and who said in his thick accent, "maike a raaaat at the laaat, make a lef, make a lef at the laaaaat." keli couldn't keep a straight face. we didn't follow the directions properly and ended up outside town past the cows, where we turned around in the parking lot of a popular icecream stand. keli and colleen are twin beautiful black girls with huge afro hair, and the other girls in the car were south asian. the fat white ladies in line for icecream did NOT approve of us. they made this very clear by their open stares. not curiosity. disapproval. "what are _those_ people doing in these parts?" we laughed and decided not to get icecream. what would have been great is if we would have pealed (peeled?) out of the parking lot pumping our fists in the air and shouting marxist slogans. but we didn't. we just laughed.

* the new friends and laughter - we were a group of 17 or so that took up 3 campsites. keli and colleen lovejoy, amy smith, karina purushotma, camille goldberg, jamar (_not_ jamal), andre (dre), crystal, muna, zhaleh, emily and leo, azizi (Z), vera, papi, and pam.

* the sales at the banana republic outlet. i bought an amazing green satin dress that i'm hoping to have the occasion to wear someday soon. and lots of new pants.

(maryland -> dc) more love

two carloads of us returned early yesterday from camping. after making a stop at the outlet mall in hagerstown, we headed for love cafe for brownies. when we arrived, they had only ONE brownie left, and it was a couple days old. sigh. maybe next time.

(maryland) camping

gone camping!

(dc n ? np 7) wild women

3 new pairs of shoes and an octopus tshirt from wild women wear red today. just in time to go camping!

(dc n 171 p 7) leo

"LEO (July 23-Aug.22) You may not meet certain requirements, personally or professionally. In that case, you may have to commit yourself once again to learning."

what, are they staking me out? how does stella wilder of the washington express know so much about my life?

(dc y2 171 np 7) music and yoga

as much as i love music, having it play during shavassana (sp?) in yoga is like trying to relax with your eyes open and a movie being projected on the ceiling.

in my humble beginner-yoga-struggler opinion, mehtab should not be teaching Level 1 classes at boundless. next time i'm there, i think i'll write this on a slip of paper and slip it into the suggestion box. his classes are just too advanced and someone is likely to get hurt.

(dc y1 171 p 8) the very essence of goodness

i watched a blind woman's dog on the metro this morning. he was just sitting there doing what a guide dog does, but he was so incredibly beautiful and sweet. i meditated on the goodness of guide dogs. at the moment, i can't think of anything more inherently good, anything that represents more fully the beauty and amazing capacity of animals and their relationship to people. this dog is pure service, pure love, pure duty and sacrifice. his whole life is about watching out for her. she had a nasa badge around her neck, so as we got off the train together, i got to talk with her as we navigated our way through the l'enfant plaza metro station. she works at goddard and was headed to the dept of transportation, atop my usual metroscalator. i pointed her in the direction of the doors and told her there was a revolving door and a regular door next to it. she said, "he'll choose which door is best."

i wish i had a guide dog to help me choose which door is best.

(dc g7 172 np 8) cupcake monkey

there is a tradition at our staff meetings (and i say tradition to pretend that our group at HQ has been here long enough to say it has a tradition)...anyway, there is a tradition in our staff meetings that whoever has been on travel brings back yums for the group. chocolate from belgium. maple covered nuts from montreal. macadamias from the tropics. last week no one had been on travel, and the conversation turned, as it has at previous unsweetened meetings, to cakelove's cupcakes. there was talk of an expedition to cakelove, and people started wondering how long it would take to get there and whether we could make it on our lunch break. i said it would be a bit silly for all of us to go there, since it's across the street from where i live. yesterday evening when i got back to my desk after a meeting, there were cupcake orders and cash. after yoga, i went to pick up a dozen cupcakes (plus a free one with the dozen purchase!): chocolate on chocolate, raspberry on chocolate, orange on chocolate, lemon on chocolate, lime on chocolate, vanilla almond on chocolate. with loretta's help we brought them in this morning and had a cakelovefest in my disco cubicle. the subject of my broadcast email was "come for the cake, stay for the love." some people actually just came for the love, like the colleague who uses a special hypnotic technique for controlling what he eats. he took one cupcake to be split between him, his wife, and his kids. that's control. he said he's lost 67 pounds. luckily, love has no calories.

i should take pictures. my group has already started disintigrating. everyone will be gone by mid august...scattered to the wind.

(dc y1 172 np 5) job hunt

must find new job.

(houston->dc n 173 np 3) tax task taxing

still working on taxes. the task never seems to end.

note: above alliteration dedicated to justin, since i know it's his favorite literary device (to thank him for his help with the taxing task).

(houston n 173 np 6) chromatique interference

The Starr Project, starring justin and his band, Chromatique Interference.

(houston n 173 np 3) puppet wake

you might have noticed that i don't put as many photos up as i used to. this is because my phone memory is full and won't really allow me to do anything i'd like a phone to do anymore. but if i could take photos, i would have taken a photo of jenni tonight in her hot red outfit with her fancy red boots and big hair. i also might have taken a photo of joe in his red superhero costume or charles in his nun habit or mike as a priest. these are the mathletes, and they performed last tonight at the wake for the bobbindoctrin puppet sid, who recently, apparently, died.

incidentally, the bobbindoctrin logo is one of the coolest logos ever.


and happy birthday to my sister, stephanie.
and happy birthday to jenni (aka gie gie mcgee)

(dc -> houston)

(dc) for claire

i've attempted to go back and fill in some details from the Silent Time. sorry to worry you. the last few weeks have been, how you say, "interesting". i'd like to write more, but i probably won't. i may fill in more tomorrow. or this weekend. i'll be in houston. please let's hang out saturday.

my days since last thursday have been occupied with scrambling to find myself a new job so i can stay in DC, as i was informed that my detail has not been extended and i am due to be sent back to houston in mid-august. so i am busy looking for opportunities. and trying to read the Universe, which is sending me very mixed signals. and, unfortunately, my skillz in the Universe-reading category have been failing me miserably lately. ohm.

(dc n 172 p 6.5) the trophymen

tonight after ruhi i walked around the corner to the black cat to see my friend duncan's band, the trophymen. they'll be recording here at tiny planet in august. can't wait. if you're in dc, keep your eyes out for them - they're stellar.

(dc n 172 np 7) friend box

feast and ben's chili bowl. no beatbox.

(dc n 172 p 5) no good

ethiopian dinner and magic tricks, music... experienced what it's like for someone i really want to inspire not to like my music.

(nyc -> dc) rock 'n' roll brunch 'n brooklyn

brunch in booklyn (enid) with old and new friends. ridiculously fun... road trip back to dc without a map. kat saves devotions again. thai food at 'rice' on 14th with more new friends.

(ny n 172 np 3) upstate visionary art

pedi wrote about this special day so i didn't have to. thanks, pslim. pics may follow.

note: he meant to say "galaxy" instead of "solar system". i tried to post a comment, but was rejected 10 times. 150 extrasolar planets (outside our solar system)...still only 8 in our own. word to pluto.

another note: justin was there (via telecon), too, but as a sneaky lurker - i didn't know till afterwards. we also had the surprise pleasure of moby's engineer, brian sperber and his girlfriend at the table.

(dc n 172 p 5) cassettes

two members of the cassettes stopped by tiny planet tonight after the show at the 9:30 club to play with my ka10's and other toys. i served midnight quesadillas.

(dc n 173 p 7) roof

climbed solo onto roof of building to sit crossleged and watch fireworks.