Dia De Los Muertos

Before reading my blog please watch this Sedaris clip. It starts in Portuguese, but stay with it for a minute, it reverts to English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-CrQXgHHhk

I had seen this video the day before my meeting with Pedro, my Mexican student/tutor. We do an intercambio where he speaks English for awhile, then I speak Spanish. Pedro came to "class" last week prepared with a similar story about Dia De Los Muertos. He even came equipped with a sheet of important translations such as "pray", "soul", "grave", "cemetery", but mix the complexity of religion, customs, culture and add a lack of proper conjugation and you get hilarity. As David illustrates, our customs are ridiculious enough
before translation.

It is extremely important at me not to laugh at Pedro....I would feel humiliated should he laugh at me. The combination of previously watching this video and the actual story was just too much to bear. Before I knew it I felt like my stomach was going to explode with laughter and my eyes would pop out of my head.

What is especially cute about his gesture is that I am already very familiar with Dia de Los Muertos becuase of growing up in New Mexico and traveling to Mexico (but I didn't tell him that)!

For those of you who don't know, Day of the Dead is when the peoples go to the grave and have a picnic. The peoples eat a lot of candy and rice after to go to church. Then, the peoples see a dead soul in the cemetary and eat lunch with the soul.

I lost my camera in San Fransisco. I never left my wallet in El Segundo, so I consider myself fortunate. But, it is making this whole blogging thing a little difficult. I guess I will just be more creative until the Holiday when I (cross my fingers) get a new one! So, my new favorite thing to go while I'm bored at work is play with this website that lets you choose color pallets and then it generates pictures off of Flicker.

http://labs.ideeinc.com

I'm just not sure how I can use it best. So, today I took the colors of clothes I am wearing and plugged it in. This is what I got:




How appropriate!

Patriotism

I remember in an art and photography class in college one assignment was to look at a series of images and describe how each made you feel. Before the September attacks, I never thought much about the image above. I knew what it meant, where it came from and what it represented on an informational basis, but did not have much feeling attached. My class was post-911 and I had a new set of associations. My intuit on this image is an example of internal conflict. I knew that it stood for all good things but because of what it become I felt unsettled.

In the few days following 911 there was a sense that we were all in the fight together and for a moment the country felt united, but as government stepped in with agendas and with the decision to invade Iraq, the American flag became a symbol of division. Those in support of the war and government sported this image on cars, over-sized trucks, lawns, and apparel. Those opposed felt like all pride had been drained from their souls and was replaced with embarrassment.

I want to be proud to live here and in many ways I am. But we have a long way to go. If Barack Obama becomes president I have faith that pride will be restored and a new set of associations will accompany the American flag.

Inspiration for this post has come from the book below. Infidel by Ayaan Hirshi Ali is a very powerful autobiography by a Muslim woman who struggled with fulfilling her duties as the eldest daughter and an arranged marriage. It is a story about her bravery in escaping her marriage and searching for political, cultural, and spiritual freedom when everything-including her own life-was at stake.

It made me feel very naive when complaining about being an American. At the very least I know I can complain without fear of being killed. We have potential to be the greatest country in the world.

Flamingos!

Brandon's amazing sister keeps hooking up our lawn with awesome flamingo fun. Just had to share these hilarious lawn decorations. We keep putting on the wrong outfit to be funny-- for instance, this Christmas our flamingo will be dressed as the Easter Bunny!

The Eagles of Death Metal are playing the Wonder Ballroom on Halloween and that is where Brandon and I will be. Check them out and join the fun.

Art and Friends

Brandon and I made a spontaneous trip to San Fransisco to see some art and some amazing friends. We surprised Mike Giant at his art show at the gallery White Walls. Brandon and I cracked up when we saw this Don Shrader image. Only those who spent time at UNM know what I'm talking about!

Then we went to this neat Korean bar where some very sweet and hospitable ladies got us loaded and gave us free Korean left-overs! It was delicious!!

This four star establishment only cost us $120!


We took a train to Oakland and went to a lecture/book signing by Robert Williams, Brandon's' favorite artist and idol. He gave an impressive lecture and was very nice when we finally got to meet him. We stayed with some great friends of ours.

Then we went to visit Zach at a dinner hosted by his parents. I played "Ponies" with his daughter Wren. (I think I was having more fun than she was!)



Well it was a complete whirl-wind and I can't believe we made it. I made a vow to do spontaneous things more often. Expectations can ruin experience.

Obamarado

Last week I went to Ft. Collins, Colorado. My intentions were two-fold. I wanted to volunteer for Obama and decided to be effective and do it in a swing state. I also wanted to spend time with my sister who lives there.

Ft. Collins is a charming, old city. I was excited to be in a lightening storm. The sounds and smells of this storm made me miss Albuquerque.




I loved the mid-century homes in my sister's neighborhood. We put her Schwinn cruisers (and my legs!) to use.





Canvassing was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I was so nervous when I knocked on that first door that I started shaking. I was worried people were going to challenge me on the issues. What I soon came to realize is that most everyone wants to get you off their doorstep as soon as possible. I did get chased down the street once by an elderly lady wearing a "McCain/Palin"
t-shirt spewing off about her freedom and socialism. She also refered to Sarah Palin as "a breath of fresh air". Looking back it's pretty funny. What she doesn't realize is that I still have her address........

I do feel very accomplished. I did some very important work-I registered 5 young people to vote and in attempt to get voter turn-out I registered 12 democrats for mail-in ballotts. I also provided information sheets and signed up 6 people to volunteer. When Obama wins Colorado by 17 votes you can all thank me!

I feel very sheltered by liberals and democrats in Oregon. Canvassing really helped me understand the phrases "swing states" and "battlegrounds". Just because I don't know any swing voters certainly does not mean that they do not exist. Please do not be fooled into thinking Obama has this in the bag. It is still a very close race and I encourage you to do what you can. Donate money, donate time and talk to everyone you know about voting.




This shirt is awesome! I tried everything to find one, but they are GONE!

Faz turned 36.

Here are some of Faz's party pictures:

Happy year Faz.  Thanks for the great party, hope you had fun.  I am going to Colorado first thing in the morning to volunteer for Obama and kick some McCain/Palin ass!