Joyeux Noel d'Haiti!

Arrived in one piece, and minus one piece of luggage, on Sunday. Things are going well (luggage was recovered yesterday, so I now have more than two pairs of underwear -- woohoo!), Haiti is a fascinating, somewhat contradictory place and I'm having a good time being introduced to it. I've had three Latin dance lessons and can do a respectable imitation of the salsa and chacha (less so the bachata), we went to a very nice Haitian music concert last night, and I have a meeting today w/someone about my research. Tomorrow we will have Christmas with Stephane's family and I am looking forward to my favorite Haitian food, accra (it's like a saltier, bigger, tastier hush puppy -- sort of). For the weekend we may be going to Cap Haitien/La Citadelle, or if we can work it out, I will be meeting up w/some Americans who are going to Gonaives (one of the areas hardest hit by the hurricanes) to do mental health work and spending a day or two at the beach. Not too shabby!

Hope your holidays are as good or better than mine, miss you all.

Charity Ball 2008

These are best viewed from the bottom up -- forgot that blogger loads them in reverse order. The Charity Ball is held every year to raise money for scholarships for students from less-developed country. So some of us paid for a ticket that was then used to pay us -- haha...

My back, which apparently the photographer really liked b/c he took two pictures like this one.

Me telling the chef that I don't really like dessert -- he took it better than I thought.

Seda and I waiting in line to pay for our winnings.

Denisa and me walking out of the bidding room like we had already won everything in there.



Apparently something was really funny. Or I couldn't breathe. Not sure.

That old horse...

Saw 'The Devil Came on Horseback' tonight for the first time.

I had some trouble indentifying with the narrator sometimes, this ex-Marine who found a job on the internet 'monitoring the peace' in Sudan in 2004-2005, who at one point wished for a gun and ten other men b/c he would surely then have been able to protect these villages in Darfur from being raided by the Janjaweed. While his obvious overestimation of the US Marines and underestimation of the Janjaweed annoyed me, what I did feel from him and what I totally understood was this sense of helplessness and increased disillusionment.

After he could no longer stand photographing the genocide day after day after day after day, this guy went back to the US armed with thousands of pictures, with reports that were faithfully sent to superiors in the AU central command and were sometimes forwarded to the UN or the State Department. He had unfathomable quantities of concrete evidence of the atrocities committed in Darfur, almost from the beginning -- and truly, these pictures will haunt your dreams -- so one can understand why he thought that if he shared this information, something might actually happen. And nothing has. Not a f-ing thing.

Since he is now persona non grata in Soudan (imagine!), he decided to go to Chad to talk to some of the refugees there. It looked like he was in Bahai or Farchana, not where I was, but the story is the same: All these people, looking to the UN, to the US, to anyone for help. And guess what -- it's not coming. These children who watched their families burn to death, these women who were raped repeatedly and mutilated, these men who managed to hide or run and actually escape -- these people are sitting by the hundreds of thousands, waiting.

But they're waiting for something that is not coming, they need to start to understand that and to rebuild where they are or where they can. Which is why when I was in Chad, I became so angry at the realization that the UN isn't helping these people, it is not being honest with them, it is not empowering them or helping these people make the most of the lives they had to work so hard to save: The UN and many of its implementing partners (not all, but many) are exploiting these people and their donors. They are making money out of a culture of dependency. They are taking advantage of one of the most horrific tragedies ever to stain the pages of human history.

The first crime occurred when the government of Soudan persecuted this vile campaign against the people of Darfur, and the Chadian government isn't too far behind its neighbor, as it does nothing to stop the Janjaweed from deranging their own citizens as well as the refugees that have flooded its borders. But the second and more insidious, despicable crime is that perpetrated by the people who are supposed to help. What are you helping exactly when, three years after these people fled their homes, you have yet to assist them in re-building the social networks they so desperately need now, or you have yet to encourage them to begin learning how to feed themselves through farming or bartering*, but instead leave them dependent on your irregular distributions of insufficient food?? What are you helping when you spend less money on education than you do on encouraging the government to draft Parliamentary bills and statements on human rights that mean *nothing* to these people?? Give me a break.

Toward the end of the movie, the narrator says that after doing everything he has done, he still feels like it has achieved very little and he says all he can say now when he encounters refugees is he 'supports' them, but that seems so empty to him. That's exactly what it feels like: empty. You want so badly to help these people and they need so desperately for someone to help them -- to *really* help them -- but you begin to lose hope. When you've tried so much for so long, and nothing happens, you begin to lose hope. But the part of the movie that really got to me was when the narrator was going back to the US and he assumed that of the thousands of NGO workers operating in the Darfur region at the start of the genocide, at least *some* of them would have been talking about it, would have been trying to make the press and the people know what was going on. But they weren't. In fact, when he got back to the US and started sharing his pictures and documentation, he was asked by the State Department to *stop* these activties, for fear of causing offense. No one in the system wants to talk about the problem, not really.

I was 'released from my contract' for trying to share this sort of information, for putting light on a situation so deplorable, no one should tolerate it. And I still don't know why people do tolerate this. But they do.

Knowing this, bearing the consequences of this, leaves a dark feeling in my gut, and my heart shrinks away.



*There is in fact a US organization that is attempting to do these sorts of activities, but they have met w/limited success b/c for the majority of refugees, it is easier to just go to WFP or HCR for handouts than it is for them to do the work themselves. And in case you thought this was just human laziness, get familiar w/learned helplessness -- people who once were able and willing to take care of themselves lose the will and/or the ability to do so after repeated traumatization, loss, and/or depression. It's not always that they're lazy, it's that they can't do anything else, at least not without a lot of help in the form of psycho-social counseling, skills training, etc.

Charming.

Today is the Dutch celebration of Sinter Klaas, or Saint Claus, a day which makes me want to check the encyclopedia for the difference between this guy and the Saint Nicholas we AND the Dutch honor on Christmas Eve (they say there's a difference, but I'm really not convinced). And how do Dutch celebrate Sinter Klaas? Well, settle back, boys and girls for a tale that could only have been concocted in the Netherlands (or maybe the US prior to civil rights).

From what I can gather -- and bear in mind that I have done very little fact-checking on this am relying entirely on the various accounts I have received here -- Sinter Klaas arrives on a boat from Northern Africa, via Spain, every year to give special treats to the good children and to whack the bad children into unconsicousness with a rod. He then stuffs the bad children into his sack, in which he will transport them back to Africa where they will work as his slaves. Oh, and did I mention he already has some special little unpaid, permanent 'helpers' who are of a skin tone rather darker than his own? Do a Google Image search for 'Zwarte Piet' and see what you get...The Dutch insist that they are not being racist by dressing in black face and bright red lipstick whilst skipping along next to old Klaas, but I have to say, I am just a bit taken aback every time I see what really looks like a character from Little Black Sambo grinning at me like a fool.

But back to the naughty and nice bit. If one manages to be worthy of a treat rather than a one-way ticket to human trafficking, this treat is delivered into your waiting shoe, which is left out at night before the children go to sleep. This bit is not entirely weird to me -- after all, we do hang stockings every year, which are now mostly symbolic, but once were actually worn by people on their feet.

What I did find weird was what happened when I participated in this tradition. Last night, one of the few Dutch people at our school organized a little Sinter Klaas party, where we watched a movie and set out our shoes, which were to be filled overnight by Sinter Klaas and his Piet with some sort of goody. I dutifully brought a shoe and set it next to the others and was looking forward to a bit of chocolate or other yummies. The weirdness is what came next: What I found in my shoe this morning was indeed chocolate and other yummies, but it was just loose in my shoe -- my obviously USED shoe. WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO WITH A BUNCH OF UNCOVERED FOOD IN MY SHOE?? My shoe that I have sweat in and worn in the streets of many different cities and at least two continents and which now carries untold billions of germs. WTF, Sinter Klaas?? Ever hear about infectious disease, or do you not come from *that* part of Africa?? Or maybe they just don't have Ziploc in those parts.

Sadly, there was a moment where I considered at least tasting what looked like a nice bit of chocolate, but then I recovered my senses and headed straight for the nearest bin, where any interested party can now find my presents.

I'm not really sure that this is better than a blow to the head.

Fun w/European Rap

If Missy Elliot and Pink had a French baby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPn_kgSfvwA

If Dr. Dre (circa 1991) was white and German:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2_eVZKu28g

Contradicting what I've heard, Berlin must be a pretty cool city if it produces this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9b2j2g42nQ

'If you can't say anything nice...'

Many of you have been asking me to tell you about where I am living now, and you may have noticed that I have not done so. In keeping w/the old adage referenced in the title and in an effort to demonstrate that I did, in fact, learn a lesson or two from the whole Chad fiasco, I have not yet given any info or anecdotes about Maastricht. But since no situation is ever wholly bad (even there is not much good), I offer the following:

-- I like the town. Maastricht is a medium-sized city that is a bit of an oddity in this region. The Limburg region of the Netherlands is not unlike the Southeastern US -- poorer, less educated, and its inhabitants identify more w/their region than they do w/the rest of the country, but also friendlier and more easy-going than the rest of the country. Maastricht, however, is quite wealthy, populated mostly by posh middle-aged and older people, along w/a large college community. The city itself is small enough that a person does not need a car, but also has a lot of bigger city attractions -- TONS of shopping, lots of cultural events/festivals, restaurants, etc., not unlike Charleston.

-- The River Maas runs through the town, leading to very picturesque daily walks across the bridge. I live in a nice neighborhood on the 'new' side of the river (it's still medieval) and my office is on the old side (initially settled by the Romans -- holy crap!), so each day I walk across the river at least twice and have been treated to lovely sunsets, cloudscapes as the rains move in and out, and this amazing fog that fills the streets and settles on the river in a layer so thick, you cannot see the end of the bridge on which you walk. You all know how much I love water, so this makes living inland seem not so bad.

-- The buildings in the older parts of town are great -- medieval, Renaissance, and 18th century stone contraptions w/slate roofs...Very nice. Oh, and the streets are nearly all cobblestone in these areas, which is quaint.

-- I like that they have hung and lit the Christmas garlands across the streets and now the stores are open past 5 and on Sundays.

-- I LOVE my favorite cafe/pub where the owners know my name and I only pay for half of my drinks, and they always have good music -- Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. Also, it is the smallest cafe in the Netherlands and is super-cute.

-- I have met nice people and really like my living situation. Our apartment is awesome -- three stories and everyone has their own room -- and well-located (you can Google it if you want: Wycker Grachtstraat 24, Maastricht). Since my roommates are also students in my program, we are all often busy and therefore do not usually have logistical problems like bathroom-sharing or laundry issues. But when we are home, we often cook together or watch movies (or Gilmore Girls if Melissa is in charge) or just chat and hang out. We also do fun things like bicycling or dancing (well, everyone else bicycles all the time, but I only bike when it's above 60/15 and when we are not in the busy parts of town -- haha -- and we only go dancing when the School has an event w/a DJ b/c the only dance club in town is called 'Dance Club for Students' which tells you all you need to know). We go to places w/other people from the school, like the shisha bar or the Turkish restaurant a few towns over or this neat movie theater that plays only indie films and is staffed entirely by volunteers. I now have good friends from Uganda, India, Turkey, and of course the EU, so I will have lots of interesting vacation options in the future!

-- There is a small nature preserve not far from my house where wild horses live. I was disappointed the first time I went there b/c I did not see the horses, but every time I have been back I have seen them and they even followed me around one time, which made me happy except that I wasn't sure how wild they really are and I was worried that they would start chasing me or would bite me if I petted them -- haha....

-- What I like best is that I will be here for only one year.

Democracy in Action...?

Being the good citizen that I am and wishing to keep my legitimate right to complain about all things political by actually participating in the funny little system we call American democracy, I requested my absentee ballot as soon as I arrived here in the Netherlands. After confirming that I am both myself and not resident in my voting precinct at this moment, I settled in to wait w/great anticipation for my ballot to arrive.

A month later, I am still waiting. Becoming concerned (and annoyed, but that goes without saying), I called the elections office yesterday. You can imagine my happiness when my phone call was answered by a recording informing me that all elections officers were busy helping other citizens and to call back. You can imagine my further happiness when I did call back -- 20 times -- and received the same message each time. Becoming convinced that this was a trick on the part of our civil servants to devote more time to watching soap operas than to serving me, the public, I decided to deploy a two-pronged communications attack. So I sent a rather terse email 'requesting' someone to get back to me right away. Dangit.

Just after sending the email, I decided to try calling again and this attempt technically met with success. I say technically because I did in fact get through to a human being, but the information given to me was somewhat less than satisfying. The exchange went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'm jules, [big story leading to Where the heck is my ballot??]

My Tax Dollars at Work, in Southern drawl: Wayl, hun, ya know, once that ballot is in the mail, there's nuthin we can do about it.

Me: Okay...So there's no tracking number or anything?

MTDW, as if I had asked if dogs can marry cats: Oh, no!

Me: Um....Well, if it doesn't show up soon, can I request another one?

MTDW: Oh, no, hun -- we have a missin' ballot out there, we can't just send you another one when that one's not accounted for.

Me: Right, but that is sort of the problem -- my ballot is missing and I can't vote.

MTDW: Well, ya know, we've had ballots that took a week just to get across the county, so why don't you give it a little more time?

Me, sensing this was going nowhere fast: Yeah, okay, good idea. Maybe I'll just give it two more weeks, eh? Have a good day.

Feeling remarkably underwhelmed by my election officials, I was pleasantly surprised to check my email just after I got off the phone and find a response from another member of the election bureau staff. The contents of this email are pasted as follows:
You may have to go the FPC (federal post card) way, this can be done by e-mail....look it up on Google and basically follow the instructions,just make sure you sign it.

Yes, that's right -- the official answer to all of my problems? Google it! Amazingly (or not), this actually worked, so it looks like a) American democracy is now powered by Google, and b) I will get to vote after all, which, oddly, still excites me, despite my too-deep knowledge of the inner workings of the American political machine and the further knowledge that when you're registered in a state like mine, your vote doesn't really matter anyhow. But by golly, I want my stinking ballot and if I have to go to Google to get it, then so be it. Maybe I will vote for Google for some local office. Like court clerk. Or coroner.

Let's get indignant!

The four of you still bothering to read my blog are probably hoping for some sort of update or description of my new living arrangements, which I have been tempted to do, but could never be bothered. But I can always be bothered for a bit of outrage, so I am writing instead about the $700 billion bailout that somehow miraculously, mercifully failed to be passed yesterday in the House of Representatives.

For more than a year now, I have grumbled about the smaller bailouts -- of banks, of companies, of people who foolishly took out loans they could not afford -- on the principle that you do not reward poor decision-making. All of these entities made very bad decisions, took very big risks and now must face the consequences of these decisions. To give them money or pick them up and dust them off is simply to deprive them of a valuable lesson they would otherwise have learned and to encourage them to continue the very practices that led them into trouble before.

This most recent proposed bailout is staggering in size/cost, it is provocative in its absolute lack of accountability mechanisms (you really think it's a good idea to give one man complete discretion for how to allocate an amount of money nearly equal to the GDP of the Netherlands?), and it is almost ridiculous in its complete opposition to the very liberal economic tenets America is so fond of touting and imposing on others. Further, the fact that the American taxpayer is now being asked to pay for the mistakes of corporations not renowned for their social sensitivity is offensive. These people should pay for their own mistakes, not the American public. (For example, a 'securities transfer tax' similar to the one currently used in Britain and previously used in the US in more financially responsible times would both inject cash into the market -- the primary aim of this bailout -- and would generally spare the average American the burden of providing this liquidity.)

This crisis, if it can be called so, has been building for more than a decade. It did not just happen. What just happened is that people realized the hole they were digging was rather deeper than they had intended and are now being forced to ask for help (or in the case of Lehman, have the dirt thrown on top of them). But this whole situation has been looming, but between public reluctance to question what is perceived as 'easy money' and corporate reluctance to disclose their dealings, the whole matter was left to spiral, and not in a positive direction. We are paying now for our self-imposed ignorance and irresponsibility. But rather than face this and make an attempt at accepting responsibility for a problem that took years to reach its current level, our politicians proposed a plan that absolves people from culpability and which was hastily thrown together and advocated a plan that can only be described as a 'quick fix'.

You don't fix decades of mismanagement with a plan influenced more by politics than economics and slapped together in a matter of days. You are facing a systemic failure, you change the fucking system.

This bailout was proposed as a 'drastic measure' to address what is apparently seen as a drastic situation. What about other 'drastic measures' that will effect long-term benefits socially, environmentally, AND economically? For example, decreasing consumption through rationing, decreasing subsidies, and getting serious about decreasing America's foreign debt by decreasing the amount of cheap foreign goods purchased. Americans are always crying about China and Japan and India, but they never seem to make the connection that they are financing their supposed aggressors. Here's an idea, 'budget shoppers': Start checking the labels on the things you're buying and consider whether it is worth it to you to spend an extra dollar to buy something not made by a foreign competitor. For too long, Americans have simply consumed everything presented to them, demanding increasingly lower prices even for goods with increasingly limited supplies (hello, gasoline!), without bothering to understand how corporations are able to provide them with these cheap goods in an increasingly expensive world.

Many people at this moment are stating that the government must provide a cash infusion to the financial markets in order to prevent a credit crisis, which would cause the economy to shrink. What these people fail to point out or understand, depending on your level of cynicism, is that maybe a smaller economy and less credit is exactly what is needed right now. Maybe, and I know this is a wild idea, maybe it is time for people at all levels -- individual, governmental, corporate -- to re-learn fiscal responsibility and stop expecting easy money, cheap everything, and a consequence-free existence.

Donnez-moi un instant de faveur (juste encore une fois)

If I were a different kind of Christian, I would be 'called' or 'convicted'.

But I'm not that kind of Christian, so all I know is that deep in my belly, in the primordial churning of my gut, I feel like my purpose in life is to facilitate, improve, and create mental health services in developing and/or post-conflict countries.

I also know that mental health is not on the first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and that other things must be taken care of before people want to think about mental well-being. But I don't feel like those other things are my purpose and in any event, there are many people far better-qualified than I to carry out that mission.

For me, the single thing I want to do with my life, the single focus of my life for the last four years, is/has been to give what skills I have to those who need them most. That's all I want to do. I don't want to read newspaper or journal articles and have civilized conversations about them in my insulated, glossy world. I don't want to exploit people or gawk at or sensationalize their situations. I don't want to make money off of the suffering of others. I don't want to sit in an air-conditioned office or hotel room talking about what is best for people I have probably never seen. All I want to do is take my skills to the places they are needed most, and use them.

And despite the unfortunate end of my tenure in Chad, I do have much-needed skills (and I now have important lessons learned, as well). I want to go to these places for all the right reasons, I have a relevant skill-set and a deep, unwavering desire to use it and yet....

And yet.

I write you unemployed, despite numerous attempts at finding a position (including unpaid internships) that might allow me to once again feel as if I were in my right place. The closest I have thus far managed is to gain admittance to a university to study for a Ph.D. in a field that I am praying will allow me to put my foot back in the door. But I'll have to use the other foot, b/c this one has been crushed by the repeated slamming of said door.

While I appreciate the singular opportunity that has been offered to me by being allowed into this Ph.D. program, I must still ask the question: Why? Why is it that a person like me cannot even successfully beg for a job in this field, a field I now know to be populated by the self-interested, the self-righteous, and the just plain pragmatic, while I just want to give as much of myself as I can offer? But more than that, why do I feel so strongly that this is what I *must* do to feel complete, why is this the only part of my life that has offered some odd sort of fulfillment when it is seems at this moment that it is simply not going to happen for me? Why would God/Fate/Karma/Whatever do this? Why make every bone inside me whisper that this is my desire, this is my place -- why make me feel out of place in my own country, in my own culture -- when it is becoming increasingly plain that I am not permitted to live the life I could swear I was made for??

Yes, this is self-indulgent.

Yes, I am whining.

And yes, it is possible that I am catastrophizing just a bit.

But I just don't know what else to do when my heart is still breaking and the best I can hope for is that the gamble I've made by embarking on this Ph.D. program will pay off and I will one day be allowed back to the world I so unwillingly left five months ago, the world I finally scratched my way into only to be turned out again, the world that, although so wholly foreign from the physical surroundings in which I was raised, was the closest I have felt to home in my entire life. It was home b/c it was what is right for me, and I may never see it again.

Made me laugh

Here are two of the most amusing things I've seen on the Internet lately. The first one I should probably not find amusing, but I do -- I'm insensitive, whatever.

The latest in swimwear: http://www.ahiida.com/index.php?a=subcats&cat=20

Was randomly on the APC website and found their frontispiece both entertaining and unexpected. I think the military should consider this one!: http://www.aperfectcircle.com/ If you hit Refresh, new ones come up. Some are more snide than others....heh.

What is this unfamiliar spectacle?? Could it be...progress?

Some of you older, more loyal readers may remember me ranting on about cluster bombs waaaay back in August of 2006, and for those of you who are new or wisely decided to clear space in your brain for more important things, here is the link: http://everythggoodwastaken.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

The point of that post was to point out the barbarity and senselessness of these weapons, using the July 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon as an illustration. At the time, I stated that the use of cluster bombs was unacceptable, particularly when one considers the great risk they pose to civilians unlucky enough to be caught in wars many of them would rather sit out. Apparently 111 countries agree with me, as today a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs was signed! The agreement even calls for all current stockpiles in signatory countries to be destroyed within eight years and could potentially lead to the removal of US inventories in signatory nations where the US military operates. If I wasn't so tired right now, I might actually have cried a little bit -- this treaty represents a rare moment of clarity and progress in the loooong struggle toward a universal concern for human protection, these moments are few and far between and this one ever-so-slightly warmed my cold, cynical heart.

Naturally, the US did not sign this treaty, deeming cluster bombs far too critical to their vaunted military operations. While disappointing, this is not especially surprising. What I found more annoying, though, were the following quotes (found in this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_re_eu/ireland_cluster_bombs) from a person who heads what I'm sure is a reliable, impartial think tank on par with, oh, Fox News. Ahem. This genius (and real humanitarian!) offered the following in response to this historic, shockingly progressive treaty:

"This is a treaty drafted largely by countries which do not fight wars," said John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org.
"Treaties like this make me want to barf. It's so irrelevant. Completely feel-good," he said.

Asked whether U.S. forces would ever ban or restrict cluster-bomb technology, Pike said, "It's not gonna happen. Our military is in the business of winning wars and using the most effective weapons to do so."

So let's make a quick list of the MANY problems w/these statements:
1) Not since middle school have I heard someone imply that people who do not fight are somehow inferior.
2) Barf??? Really??? You said, 'barf,' in an official interview??
3) I am curious about Mr. Pike's definition of 'irrelevant'. More than half of all recognized states, including most of our NATO allies, signed this treaty, which to me seems the opposite of irrelevant. But maybe he is of the school that considers all things irrelevant until they are endorsed by Amerrrica.
4) Recent conflicts would suggest that the American military is more in the business of protracted, obtuse struggles with no clear outcome, not 'winning wars.'
4b) If these cluster bombs are integral to the current American strategy of how to win wars, the military should re-evaluate their effectiveness since, um, they don't seem to be working.

You know what? I'm sure there are far more eloquent, less propagandized critics of this treaty who could have defended the American decision not to sign, but I'm glad it was this guy. It makes it all that much easier for me to ignore the nay-sayers and delight in the fact that for once, common decency and concern for human life found a place in politics.

Diff'rent Strokes

At many points in my history, I have found myself thinking, "Well, *I* wouldn't have done that." Usually this is after being subjected to a reality TV show or seeing a new picture of some st(harlot)'s snatch, but periodically this utterance is issued when someone I care for does something puzzling. Puzzling to me, I should say.

Because I am now a little afraid of my own blog and its apparent power to disconcert, I do not wish to provide examples for fear of upsetting someone, but let's just say it has become increasingly apparent to me that I need to learn to accept the fact that I do things differently from most people, for good and ill.

Festered over this situation whilst having soup, salad, and beer at a little pub near my hotel room and was terribly amused to observe the following:
Two black men walk into a British-ish pub in Manhattan. Moments later their waitress comes to the bar asking if Remy VSOP is available. The barmaid replies in the negative. The waitress returns shortly to ask if Hennessey is available. The barmaid rolls her eyes as she reaches for the bottle and then says as she hands the glass over to the waitress, 'Let me guess -- they're black." I laugh hysterically at this, mostly because the barmaid is right, and then I am further amused when the waitress hisses to the barmaid, 'She just heard you!' and I was tempted to start singing a medley of rap songs that mention Remy and Hennessey as desirable beverages.

Also, I have to be honest, although there is a lot going on w/me these days, I lack the means of making it seem amusing -- mostly b/c it's not -- so I am afraid the blog will be rather lackluster for the foreseeable future. I recommend a monthly (at most) perusal so as not to waste your time. Am hoping to get it back in order, but...well, I just don't know.

Let's party like it's...1939?

Appalling. I have no other words for this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_re_eu/belarus_jewish_bones_1

Back by popular demand...

...and against the protests of others.

Really nothing that interesting or controversial to relate here. But then again, I never thought there was. So what the fuck do I know.

Currently back in the US (excitement scale: 3) and looking for a new job (excitement scale: 5.5) with some interesting opportunities (excitement scale: 7-10), waiting to see what happens (excitement scale 1-10). I can say that when I was interviewing w/one of my many former employers, all of whom have hired me for work most people would find distasteful, one of them said, 'Even those who have not renewed with us have felt that their experience w/us changed their perspective on life.' Well, I will say that Chad changed my perspective on life, although I will not say that the employer who said the previous statement was the employer who sent me to Chad.

As many of you may know, I am looking at new jobs in Haiti, Sudan, and, yes, even Chad. Maybe during the rainy season we will get along better. Either way, not looking domestically or even European-ally in the near future. We will see who will take me. My money is on Haiti.

Either way, I never thought being 'released' could be such a liberating, positive experience. The only thing left to ponder is whether or not I told them enough. I think not.

No cell phone

And therefore no long distance to call most of you. Am in the US, but still waiting for either Chester or Eli to work out the cell phone situation (the latter b/c he screwed it up in the first place and the former b/c he's got the mad hook-up), but until then, if you lovelies could call me, I would appreciate it. 410.451.2376. Miss you all like the dickens!!

Incroyable!

My amazing friend Marion has been selected as a finalist in the Nature Conservancy's Nature Photo of the Year Contest! Her picture really is amazing and you can see it and VOTE FOR IT at this address:

http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=bestnature2007_ph6

The other ones are obviously pretty good, too, but Mar's is truly superior, a mon avis, so go vote for it!!

Also, I learned yesterday that my US cell phone has taken a holiday in Korea (don't ask) and I am not sure that it will be back at my house by the time I arrive on Tues. Since my brain stopped remembering numbers about three seconds after I got my first cell phone and became completely reliant on my contacts list, I don't have a number for most of you. Therefore, if everyone who would like to hear from me would email me their numbers, that would be great...(Totally channeling Office Space right there, heh.)