Blah

I don't want to go to work tomorrow. Today, I slept til 9:30. This two week break could not come any sooner! For the most part, I like the kind of work I do. I feel lucky that I've been able to identify what I'm passionate about and to end up in a much better place than I would have expected at 25 without a graduate degree. Sometimes, though, I let the bad, frustrating things take over. One of my goals for 2011 is to find a mentor(s). Seriously lacking area in my life.

My family is going to San Antonio for Christmas, staying in a fancy old hotel and doing grown up things like eating nice meals and going to the Tuna Christmas play on Christmas evening. This is a good (after so much sad and worrisome) time for our family. Thank God for doing bigger things than I could ever "fix"!

After our vacation, I'm coming back to Houston and will have (for the first time) a whole week off in town. I am so, so looking forward to this. To sleep, to take care of my body, to spend time with friends, to do all of the little things I've been putting off for months, to spend time in quiet reflection for the coming year, to do fun things. This will be my time to hit re-set and start fresh.

Honey, Let me Bring You Joy

I love the coziness of Fall! I've been going back to these things over and over the last few weeks--they're bringing me joy, ideas to ponder, and lightness.

Brene Brown's blog
http://www.ordinarycourage.com
Seriously, take a look. She's a Social Work professor at UH where she studies shame and perfectionism. Her blog is a mix of reflection on her research and stories about her life. For me, it has been really thought-provoking. I usually don't think of myself as a perfectionist. Making a bad grade has never freaked me out. Being a little messy is okay with me. But, I'm now realizing that my "perfectionism" comes through in other ways. Brene links vulnerability and perfectionism. For me this shows up in not being completely comfortable with people, not acting like my true self, not being honest about how I feel, not taking the risk to be silly, when I'm afraid that someone won't approve of what I'm doing. Weird how that works, huh?

I'm liking this music from a Speaking of Faith episode about Jewish High Holy Days, especially the Rivers of Babylon and Leonard Cohen ones. I really appreciate music that helps my mind calm down and get to a place of peace.
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2010/days-of-awe/#musicalscore

White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Set in England but with several immigrants, light-hearted, characters you enjoy getting know, a little history, a good escape.

What are you enjoying?

Fair Indigo Clothes

Our girl Brandy told me about Fair Indigo a while back, and I wanted to share some of their pretty fair-trade clothes with you on this grey (please, please be Fall soon) afternoon!

Man, I can't get their pictures on here! But... I promise, there are some pretty things, and the descriptions tell you about the people who sewed them.

Cute cotton/cashmere sweater with a little pocket on sale for $29.95 http://www.fairindigo.com/cproduct_info.php/fair_trade/Women_Sale/product_name/Cotton_Cashmere_Pocket_Crew_Sweater/products_id/205

Pretty velvet blazer in jewel tones for $39.50 (on sale from $139!)
http://www.fairindigo.com/cproduct_info.php/fair_trade/Women_Jackets/product_name/Velvet_Unconstructed_Jacket/products_id/35

Hooded angora sweater for $32.50
http://www.fairindigo.com/cproduct_info.php/fair_trade/Women_Sale/product_name/Viscose_Angora_Hoodie_Pullover_Sweater/products_id/406

Do y'all have any good sweatshop-free clothing sources?

Always, Sometimes, Never

I always...
Like listening to music while doing monotonous tasks
Hit snooze before getting up, at least once
Love talking to my mom on the phone
Read www.designsponge.com at some point during my work day
Read Modern Love in the NY Times on the weekend

I sometimes...
Remember to water my plants after work
Like staying home by myself on Friday evening
Would rather be with a bunch of people having fun on a Friday night
Leave my dishes in the sink for a couple of days

I never...
Regret moving to Houston after college
Take naps in the day unless I'm sick
Remember to call to get my desk picked up for donation
Am good at sports or anything that takes much coordination

Yum!

Do you guys read the Chocolate and Zucchini blog? Sometimes, I like her!

She had a list of podcasts about food recently, and I totally like this one called Good Food http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf

There's a cute host, lots of on-site interviews with chefs and people who love food. I say, check it out if you're in the mood. Ooh... they just said ricotta blueberry pancake. It's makin' me hungry!

Compassion Fatigue

I'm working this afternoon, tedious things to catch up on like updating calendars for my volunteer teams. It feels as if every single podcast has been listened to, every single musician I can think of is worn out, so I finally began this week's episode of Speaking of Faith. I'd been putting it off because it's about the environment and faith, something I care deeply about, but I couldn't find the energy to listen to. So, I reluctantly pushed play and about 10 minutes in realized what a bad idea it was.

The man being interviewed, who I'm sure is brilliant and inspiring, said the words "compassion fatigue," and my ears perked up. That is exactly how I feel right now. When people ask me how work is going, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to think about it, and it's hard for me to verbalize the layered feelings I have toward it. It seems like every single thing that could go wrong in the world is, and I'm such a little part of the world and can't fix it. But knowing that these problems exist weighs heavy on your soul. I chose the career I did because I want to help people, and I want to do something about the injustices of the world. Colleagues and workshops are constantly warning about burn out. I'm feeling it.

I'm trying really hard to put into practice the concept from yoga of focusing on the moment at hand and what we can actually do at the time. I'm trying to enjoy the quiet while driving in my car, the taste of food I eat, the time with friends and family I spend, the moments with God in prayer. I can't fix everything. Thinking like that wrongfully takes that power from the divine and puts it in my hands. There are little pieces I can work hard to help with.

Some people have learned how to balance very gracefully family and friends and their own well-being with a life's work focused on helping, and I want to learn to do this better. A man I really admire who works so hard to build affordable housing said, "If I only focus on taking care of the community that is hurting, I'm creating another one at home."

So, I'm going to listen to a podcast about food now as I update calendars. And, not one about food politics or food sustainability or what food is bad for us.

Catalog Living

This blog was featured on www.younghouselove.com and it's so funny! And... the woman who writes it is in the Sonic commercials.

http://catalogliving.tumblr.com/

Summer Music!

In the summer, I like raw vegetables and cold dinners. In college, after walking home from school or work I would have a popsicle to cool off and then munch on guacamole or salsa and chips or hummus for dinner--no hot and heavy meals when it's so steamy outside! I like my music on the lighter side during summertime, too! Here's what I've been listening to...

Vampire Weekend--the Horchata and Cousins songs are my favorites right now
http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend

Local Natives--I missed seeing them a few weeks ago when they were in town, but I bet it would have been a fun show!
http://www.myspace.com/localnatives

Mason Jennings--I've loved this guy for so long, and he keeps me smiling!
http://www.myspace.com/masonjennings

K'Naan--such a beautiful person. He was a child soldier in Africa, ended up being adopted by an American, and is so talented!
http://knaanmusic.ning.com/

ALSO, John Prine and Iris Dement's In Spite of Ourselves--so funny http://www.myspace.com/johnprine

That's all for now! Yay for summer!

People

Man, people are great. I've been reading a book called Loneliness for work--it's written by a neurological researcher who studies the concept of loneliness. The senior organizations I work with come together to plan their outcomes measurement for their programs, and one thing they found is that the 60 - 65 year olds in their programs felt more lonely than people who are older. This might seem contrary to what you would assume since younger seniors tend to be more active and have the ability to get out and socialize more. So, we were a little confounded but had some ideas about why this might be the case. They were measuring how the older adults felt about being lonely, not using some objective measurement like how many hours in a day they spent with other people or how many friends they had who were still living. I went to Chicago in March for the national Aging in America conference and attended a presentation that the author of the Loneliness book did. During the question and answer period I brought up this example of our survey and asked if he had any thoughts on why this could be. After all, the nonprofits don't want any of their seniors to feel lonely or isolated. Dr. Cacioppo's response confirmed our hypothesis--younger seniors are used to working most of their adult lives, used to being around an office full of coworkers and having lives where they knew what was to be expected every day when they woke up. So, the issue is probably two-fold--1. that the seniors' expectation of what "normal" is changes as they adapt to retirement, and 2. that with time people find new activities and a group of friends. One point Dr. Cacioppo rellay emphasizes is the difference between loneliness and depression--people can experience both simultaneously, but loneliness is a physically and chemically different thing.

I think a really interesting point that the book makes is that humans have developed to be social creatures--that tens of thousands of years ago, you couldn't survive very long as a loner. You needed people to go hunting with, people who would help you gather, people who would protect you from enemies and animals. Those people who for some reason avoided others would end up dying younger and were less likely to reproduce. Now, our lives are not so dangerous--people with mental illness and other problems can live their entire lives isolated from other people if they choose. But, we still have an innate need to be around other people, to live in community. Our brains work against us when we start to feel lonely, though. When we are hungry, we have a desire to eat. When we are thirsty, we have a desire to drink. When we are lonely, we naturally become less self-confident and more likely to retreat into ourselves. This natural reaction works against what we really need, and it takes effort to make ourselves not do the easy or more comfortable thing in this situation. It is only by making ourselves be around people and seek out opportunities to be around other people that we can overcome our loneliness.

Anyway, sometimes I need to remind myself how wonderful people are. How good most people are. How much I have to learn from other people. How full of joy and love and God are my fellow humans. So, thanks for being a human in my life :)

PS, I think this project is such a fun idea, and I plan to participate in the One Day On Earth video project http://www.onedayonearth.org/

I found out about it from this really cool human who is a step-father to a little boy with a disability whose blog I read for work http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/

But What Do You Do?

As a follow up to the article I posted below, I want to talk about what you can do when you see a homeless person in need of help. In the case below, the very obvious thing would have been to call 9-1-1, but in most situations the person is not literally bleeding to death on the sidewalk in front of you.

For several weeks, every morning on my way to work I passed a homeless woman pushing her baby in a shopping cart in my neighborhood. Something was blatantly wrong with the situation--the baby was very young, and the mother could have stayed in an emergency shelter. I passed them by every day for weeks, and the image still fills my heart with guilt. I chose to not do anything for very selfish reasons--fear, discomfort, being too busy, not knowing how to help. All of those things were completely unacceptable--they were selfish, they were about me.

If you're in Houston and you see someone who is homeless and might need help, there is a very simple thing you can do.

SEARCH Homeless Services provides case management and helps people who are homeless access needed services like housing, medical care, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, food, and clothing. They are the experts--I don't know what to do other than hand someone a bag of food and some clean socks, but the social workers at SEARCH are trained to work with people who are experiencing homelessness and help them in a very meaningful way.

They have an Outreach Team that drives around in a bright green van connecting with people who are homeless and letting them know there is a place where they can get help, and transporting them if that is a need.

You can call on someone's behalf by dialing their helpline--713-739-7752

You can also print out these cards and hand them to people you encounter http://www.searchhomeless.org/ResourceCard.pdf

Please don't use "not knowing what to do" as an excuse to not see those who are in plain view.

Modern Day Good Samaritan Story

Dozens Keep Walking As Homeless Hero Bleeds to Death
by Josie Raymond April 26, 2010 03:41 PM (PT) Topics: Violence Against the Homeless

In our quest to raise awareness about homelessness and to push for measures to end it, we don't often write about specific crimes against homeless individuals, because, quite tragically, it would make this blog an overwhelmingly negative sphere without advancing the cause. While we strongly believe that crimes against the homeless should be categorized as hate crimes, we don't want to promote the ignorance and hatred of those who attack people just because they're vulnerable. But today I do feel the need to comment on a story that unfolded in Queens, New York over the weekend. It has less to do with crime, though one was committed, and more to do with how average people treated the homeless victim.

A homeless man named Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax interfered with an attempted robbery by defending a woman on the street. The would-be robber stabbed Tale-Yax and ran. A bleeding Tale-Yax stumbled and fell onto the sidewalk. The New York Post got the tape from a nearby surveillance camera; its time-lapse video is beyond disheartening. Over the course of more than an hour, almost 25 people walked right past Tale-Yax on the sidewalk without doing anything to make sure he was alright. When firefighters arrived an hour and 20 minutes after the stabbing, Tale-Yax, just 31-years-old, was dead.

Even if we give the passersby the benefit of the doubt and assume that they thought Tale-Yax was asleep, the way this small subsection behaved reflects poorly on the human race. Several people stopped and stared at the man bleeding to death on the sidewalk. One man even came out a nearby building, took a picture of Tale-Yax with his cellphone and left. It took two dozen people to walk by before someone called 911. Not even the woman Tale-Yax saved from the robbery called the police. Would you have stopped? Would you have called?

It's a hard story to hear, and not just because you can't help but feel for Tale-Yax and those who loved him. It's even more troubling than that because his unfortunate, and perhaps preventable, death is a microcosm of the way society is treating the swelling homeless population. There's something more dangerous at work here than "out of sight, out of mind" — it's "in sight, out of mind."

http://homelessness.change.org/blog/view/dozens_keep_walking_as_homeless_hero_bleeds_to_death

Dinner with J

J and I decided to complete his Goode Company repertoire tonight by going to Goode Company Mexican for some cheeseburgers. I think he was impressed with my selection, and I know for sure he appreciated the onion rings. He would also like to return for a cinnamon chocolate milkshake some day.

A belated birthday present was also very much appreciated. Here is is delightedly discovering his treasures!

Update on ATL > HOU

Remember when I talked about the Atlanta airport's amenities being far superior to Houston's? http://w2510.blogspot.com/2010/03/atl-hou.html Well, it looks like our mayor Annise Parker might be taking suggestions from my blog (you knew I was important, right?) because she has hired the head of Atlanta's airport to be in charge of Houston's airports. Way to go, Annise Parker! Kiehl's, pianists, The Body Shop, artwork, here we come! The photos here are of current artwork in the Atlanta airport.

Feliz Pascua!

Tiffany and I were in Buenos Aires for Easter (Pascua), and started our day with breakfast at the most delicious bakery in BA. It was just a block from her church, and great for people watching--there was a line of pastry buyers stretching out the door, but we were lucky enough to get a table. Our super sweet waitress brought us the best medialunas, pastries with membrilla filling, and awesome cafe con leche. At most restaurants here, when you order cafe con leche they also bring you a tiny shot glass of carbonated water and mini pastries to go along with it. We got these cute chocolate twisty pastries as ours!



After breakfast, we headed over to the Spanish service at the Anglican church Tiffany goes to. Easter definitely felt less of a big deal in Argentina than the US, but it was cool getting to see Tiffany's church and meet her friends. The church was completed in the 1940s and was built by English people living in BA, really pretty and ornate woodwork inside.

We decided we needed a special Easter lunch, so after strolling through an old neighborhood filled with huge trees and old houses we stopped in at a Peruvian restaurant. Such a fun place, and nice change of pace from other Argentine restaurants! It was colorful, had spicy food, and most of the diners looked like they were Peruvian immigrants. You know it's authentic when the woman next to you is breast feeding in full view and no one acts like it's a big deal. Tiff had spicy milky chicken and noodle soup and chicha (a purple corn-based drink), and I had rice with seafood and veggies--so good! Sitting next to us was a really friendly family, and their little boy perked up when he realized we spoke English. "Green--verde! Yellow--amarillo! Chicken--pollo!" It made me think of how excited I was when my family's Colombian friend came to visit our tiny town of Robert Lee and I got to take him to my kindergarten class for show and tell. I was the biggest ham and ate up meeting such an "exotic" guy!





The rest of the day was spent getting ready for our overnight bus ride to Mendoza... more to come!

Querido Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires with Tiffany has been great fun so far! Fabulous hostess, and since she's been to Argentina so many times (and LOVES guide books) knows the city super well!

Saturday, when I arrived we had breakfast at a health food restaurant--french toast with frutas rojas and cafe con leche. Moved into our super cute little apartment (where we got a very thorough reading of the lease from the landlord and were warned to not pull up the outdoor metal shutters all the way). We decided to have dessert every day while I'm here (this could be dangerous after two weeks), so we had our first serving of gelato from Freddo, my favorite place--I had dark chocolate sorbet and dulce de leche with brownies. Walked through the art market, met Tiff's friend Ignacio for coffee. We then went to dinner with Cannon, an 18 year old guy who's taking a year off before college and met Tiffany at the ruins a couple of weeks ago. He's really fun, and was able to convince us to go across the street for "a drink" after dinner even though Tiffany is sick and I had only slept three hours on the plane the night before. The bar was in this really old building with elaborate molding, huge ceilings made of brick, ornate furniture... and an Ultimate Fighting Championship match on the big screen. Talk about a strange juxtaposition! In true Buenos Aires (and 18 year old American) fashion, we ended up staying out til 3:00am instead of sticking around for 30 minutes!



Needless to say, the next morning was spent sleeping in! Remember how I said the landlord warned us about opening the metal shutters all the way? Well, of course the second day I was here I broke them. We went to San Telmo to the art market where I bought two original pieces of art (super excited)!



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Astrid, Tiffany's friend from church came over in the evening for dessert from our neighborhood patisserie--a mini lemon maringue tart, apple streusel, and tiramissiu. Then, dinner at an awesome organic vegetarian restaurant called Bio. Super cute place, quinoa with goat cheese and veggies! We're going to all the "non-traditional" Argentine restaurants this week since next week in Mendoza will be chock full of milanesa, steaks, pizza, and pasta.

Monday morning we went for cafe con leche and medialunas (mini croissants with honey). Tiffany went to meet up with her new research assistant and I wondered around Palermo--first venture out alone since I've been here. Palermo is definitely my favorite neighborhood--young, artsy, tons of ethnic restaurants and chill bars. It's grown so much since I was here last, so it was fun exploring the new shops. Tiffany joined me, and we went to our favorite paper store, Papeleria Palermo. It's a hip little shop where they make their own paper products and screen print big sheets of paper. The first time I came, I bought a piece of tissue paper with a screen printed man and woman in old fashion swimsuits standing on a beach. After a few years hanging on my window and being subjected to condensation, it began to deteriorate. So, I was super excited to buy something new.

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Wandered around the neighborhood some more, and saw a really peaceful looking collection of shops set back from the street. You walked through a gravel-filled courtyard with succulents (my favorite) and into a European-style home store, so fun to check out. In the same area was a tea shop called Tealosophy with the most delicious fragrance! Big bowls of gorgeous loose tea leaves.



They were rated the World's Second Best Tea Shop last year, and the Queen of England and the Dalai Lama are their customers. We purchased these tea cups for loose tea and the Frida Khalo chocolate almond variety.



Then, we went for our afternoon coffee and dessert of the day--a brownie layered with cream cheese and berries! Hung out there for a while reading magazines, and I learned a new word. Heals on high healed shoes are called tacos or taquitos depending on the height. This will come in handy! Tiffany found a yoga class taught by Americans a while back, so we hit that up. Totally needed it! Then, went for Moroccan lamb with pesto and an awesome fruit salad of grapefruit and mangoes with cinnamon syrup and orange mint ice. Ended the evening on a rooftop lounge with good conversation and frozen drinks called 007 Arriba en Un Elephante (007 up on an elephant)... we got some good laughs out of that one!



I am sooo lucky to be spending my vacation with my best friend in a place I love so much! Yay for Argentina!

ATL > HOU

I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires, and I must say--best airport ever! You know how Nordstrom has a pianist? Same thing, right here in the food court in the international terminal. Also? Free internet. Take that, Houston! They are owning us! They even have Nasa photos of outerspace in the hallway.

I think most people want to hide their embarassing behavior. Not me. When I do something really stupid I feel a need to share with other people, not sure why. It probably only makes people think I'm not very smart, but it's strangely cathartic for me to be able to share my screw ups. So, I'll let you in on the latest one. I'm flying Delta to Argentina, and for some unknown reason I have had it in my mind since I purchased the ticket that my flight is out of Bush. Tiffany's boyfriend graciously drove me out to the (much farther) airport this afternoon, but when I tried to check in the airline couldn't find my flight information. You know why? Because I was at the WRONG airport! You would think at some point before I leave for my 14 hour international flight I would have double-checked the airport information, but nope, sure didn't. So, hopped in a cab and drove to the airport that is conveniently located a mere 15 minutes from my house. My one saving grace today? I left for the airport extra early, so I was not in a rush!

Hopefully this will not set the tone for the rest of our trip--Tiffany and I have been known to make substantially more mistakes as a team than we do individually, so keep your fingers crossed for us!