October: Diabetes Walk

So in other news,  The Month of August is going to be terribly busy for me. We have soo much planned. There is going to be a powwow at San Manuel; we are going on an Ancestor Walk to carry prayers for the ancestors of the Gabrielino Tongva People and the Acjachemen People to their sacred sites in SoCal; we are going to a Cultural Day at Pechanga in Temecula, and of course, the Diabetes Walk!

The Diabetes Walk is a national walk where ppl run/walk and raise funds and awareness to support those who have Diabetes. I am going to the one in Los Angeles.

So I have to do fundraising. :S

It always reminds me of that horrible time one year when we had to do fundraising for Las Vegas Night for montessori and mom made us ask ppl if they would like to buy some raffle tickets to support us.....uuuuuugh painful! i hate bothering ppl like that, especially for money. To me, it seems crude, even though I know most ppl don't mind giving money to support worthy causes/events/charities and a lot of them probs wouldn't have known about it had I not told them about it so they were glad I asked. But still.....

The Hazards and Benefits of Near-to-Unpaid Work

I keep getting the same question thrown at me, usually in a high pitched tone of disbelief/outrage/confusion:

          "WHAT?? YOU'RE WORKING FOR FREE??????????????????????????????????????"

My attempts to explain the situation are usually met with derision and disbelief, usually cumulating in the idea that i am crazy, the only possible explanation.

Yes, I work for next to nothing. One of my jobs doesn't even pay me - its all volunteer work. My other job pays very little - and I work overtime and more - but its not for lack of wanting to pay me. Money is hard to get, especially for programming. I'm sure my boss would love to pay me my worth in gold but he can't. Simple as that.

However, and I know this is terribly naive, but I'm not all in it for the money. I do it out of a sense of love and happiness. I love working for my boss: he's one of my top 5 favorite people in the world and I like being his brain, to be given responsibility (except when calling people. lol) and to see and participate in the various native programming that we plan/play a part in.

I dont really worry about what I want to do in the future anymore because I know: I want to work with tribes. ok i have to figure out recognized v. unrecognized and what area (health, education, etc) but i know. I'm happy where i'm at now, despite kinda having to worry about paying the rent and stuff.  or having enough money.

But for now i am fine with my obvi-liberal leaning disgust towards money and life-is-all-about-personal-gain-and-screw-everyone-else viewpoint that  our capitalistic world has developed. After all, we're missing that sincerity, that care, in a world that desperately needs it.    

death of a hero

Today, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, lunar explorer extraordinaire, died.

There are no words I can sum up now but I think the video below accurately sums up my feelings regarding the lunar landing and Neil Armstrong. Why it was such a big step for humanity, an act that remains one of the top greatest events ever in our history, one that stretched the boundaries of the human soul past our planetary confines to the moon..and eventually beyond. 

to find more about Neil Amstrong, Yahoo for once, has a good article about his life and achievements. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/neil-armstrong-moon-mystery-man-022250193.html

I don't know if the world, if america, has truly realized who and what we lost today. Its wasn't just a man but a hopeful perspective, a desire for exploration, for optimism, for belief in humanity. 

Beginnings and Ends and the Time in Between

Pipeline ended on the 12th- all of the students made it safely back home, including my chickies from winslow and shiprock.

Summer programs are always sad because of the family you make and then you have to leave after two brief weeks. But Pipeline is not over, not by a long shot. Our family is still together and will continue to be until Pipeline next summer.

Although my position is a bit tenuous as i'm not sure who will be employing me next month but i have many irons in the fire so I am not too worried. The last thing any of us wants, including me, is for me to go home. I mean California or Atlanta? Which would you choose? No brainer right?

My next two events that I will be helping out on will be Pomona Convocation and the NA Diabetes Health Walk Sponsored by Western University.

-I'm going to the village with my roomie bc she needs cough drops but I'll come back and post more.

A change of perspective

Two friends and I were talking about fear, particularly one friend's fear of swimming in the ocean. I myself am not always comfortable swimming in the ocean (I blame jaws even though I never saw it) and i know rationally that my ocean fears are quite stupid and based on societal hysteria. Anyways, I saw this quote by Megan White Face and her perspective on the ocean was so different, so radical to me, but in a good way. It made me think beyond the regular binaries of how we consider the ocean and expanded my mental horizon. Thank you Megan. I will be sharing this with my friends. 

“Ocean and Sky”

The sky is a copy of the ocean. Only it is upside down. The clouds are the waves that roll and toss about. The deep blue is the water, and all the birds are the fish in the ocean. The sky and the ocean are not different, really. They are quite the same, just in different places. Many people ponder about them both, looking for clues and answers.

—Megan White Face

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/29/walking-on-earth-touching-the-sky-notes-of-hope-and-despair-from-pine-ridge-youth-126155 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/29/walking-on-earth-touching-the-sky-notes-of-hope-and-despair-from-pine-ridge-youth-126155#ixzz22Aa8nGCz

Fast Car

I am a little more than obsessed with Tracy Chapman's Fast Car from her eponymous debut album right now. It makes for very good thesis-writing music. She seems to have made a huge impact on music and the world in general; the Itunes reviewer really liked her, saying that "she made protest music relevant again in the Reagan Era." I need to learn more before I can say more. For now I am content to listen..and listen..and listen. 


Tracy Chapman-Fast Car 
You got a fast car
And I want a ticket to go anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

If I Stay on the Rez Campaign

While doing thesis research a while ago, I stumbled upon this awesome campaign entitled If I stay on the Rez. It seeks to combat the negative perceptions of living on reservations and to raise awareness that reservations are sites of culture, identity, and opportunities.

In popular culture and in real life, reservations usually get a bad rap, and for a good reason. Reservations have long been portrayed as tough crime-ridden, overall sense of hopelessness, loneliness, far from society, no job opportunities, third world country conditions, etc. Unfortunately, conditions like these used to, and continue to be, daily life on some, not all, reservations. (Think, if you saw it, Katie Couric's show on conditions at Pine Ridge in S. Dakota.)

Anyways, these ads and PSA completely shatters those notions for both indian and non-indian people who see the ads. (Oh it was the American Indian College Fund who came up with this brilliant idea) Also I just noticed that this ad is their ad from 2006. They have others!
 Well its not possible to click and drag so I will have to believe that providing a link will be good enough. But you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat...

http://www.collegefund.org/content/if_i_stay_on_the_rez