Life Plans

So Some People Keep asking what I am going ot be doing in life, i.e. grad school etc. Since I have only concretely planned 2 months in advance, here it is. I hope everyone can read it. (Also I'm using prezi, which is Super Cool!) 

NA History Month

So November is Native American Heritage Month. Who Knew? Its much like Black History Month, where Congress picks a month for an under-dog race (except white people because they have ongoing history years) and no one really knows or you learn about it in grade school for a whole month and then boom! its forgotten till the next year.

This is not to say that we should not be learning about Native American history, which is intimately entwined with American history throughout the ages. By all means, it should be mandatory all the time, especially to educate mainstream American that Indians still do exists and that they shouldn't be romanticized or dressed up as a halloween costume.

lol my politics have become MUCH more racialized and i think thats a good thing. Before, my perspective on race was "I prefer not to to identify as a race if I have to" and avoided all mentions of race. Now, after hanging out with the punk all the time, my speech and thought patterns have changed radically. Most of mainstream America are "the white people who usually play a hand in our continued oppression/cultural appropriation." Then there are the black people, asians, etc. Note: Even though I mention people now based on race, its not in a hateful/angry manner. I'm not hating on any race or anybody personally.

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Update: This election race is scary...Voter suppression, scams, are the republicans really that desperate? YES! (The scary part) Uh, American is so damn racist.
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2012/11/06/(ips)-voter-suppression-tactics-likely-to-affect-us-elections.html

Shakespeare Redone

If you don't like Shakespeare, go watch it. If you do like Shakespeare, watch it. If ur in the middle or undecided, heck, go watch it!

BBC did a remake of several of Will Shakes' plays, including Macbeth, Mucho Ado about Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer Night's Dream.

 I just watched Midsummer Night's Dream with a friend and boy was it worth it. There was minimal actual lines from Shakespeare but enough so it remained true to the original story and its modern update at the same time. As it is inherently a comedy, the producers sure ran away and had a good time with this one. The quotes are hilarious!

Such as:  "If you don't give me that love juice, I am going to give you a midsummer night's dream in your place where the sun don't shine."

or "Is Puck short for Puck-up by any chance?" 

It has its sweet lines too, when the father is in the middle of redoing his vows and he reads a poem. It goes like this:

Yours is the voice I hope to hear / When my phone says "One missed call"
Yours are the hands I want holding my ladder 
When I'm papering the stairs and the hall. 
 Yours is the face I long to see 
When I'm delayed at Waterloo. 
And yours is the duvet I long to share 
When my Calor gas is through. 
Yours is the sartorial eye that I crave 
When I'm having last minute suit doubts. 
And yours is the hand that I want to hold 
During funerals and penalty shoot-outs.
 Long before my mind was made up 
My heart belonged to you. 
And at last I'm listening to all that it says 
And I hope that you are too. 

Sweet Right? it has something for everyone unless ur a complete cynic who has no respect for joy and life. :) 

Cultural Appropriation

I don't know how to re-blog stuff from Tumblr but I wanted to share this.

aprilseye For all people who are considering painting their face as Dia de los Muertos skulls on HALLOWEEN, pleaseeeee reconsider!

Dia de los Muertos is a sacred tradition and holiday that traces back to our indigenous roots. 

Halloween on the other hand is different and is celebrated in different ways here in the U.S. that is no where near in relation to Dia de los Muertos. Painting your face then can be cultural appropriation for several reasons:

 1. It is offensive to the people who actually celebrate it. By showing up with a “cool” and “unique” costume while completely ignoring the meaning of Dia de los Muertos (to pay respect to ancestors) you are practicing a form of power and oppression.

2. “But I’m Mexican..” “But I’m Latina..” Remember that racism is not only practiced in the U.S., but also in Mexico. Just because you are bicultural, it does not always mean that you are accepting of your indigenous roots. In my family, my grandma used to call my mom, “pinche India,”  when they got in an argument, even though they are both Mexican. My mom however got called out because she has darker skin.

3. Cultural appropriation has been used enough in U.S. Halloween celebrations. Look at all the “Native American,” “Indian,” “Geisha,” “Mexican,” costumes. Just because your skull make up is new and is “prettier,” it doesn’t mean its any less racist or ignorant.

4. By wearing this face paint on a day where everyone is going to be wearing costumes, you prolly wont have the time to educate people on what Dia de los Muertos means. As a result, people who have no prior knowledge about Day of the Dead may think, “oh that’s a neat costume for next year,” and will continue this cycle and appropriate it themselves.

It’s not my place to tell you what Dia de los Muertos means. It’s also not my responsibility to teach you about cultural appropriation. Just look it up. Think about your intentions. Of course most people who are thinking of doing this do not mean to offend, but in the end it does.

I feel like giving halloween suggestions. Here we go folks! If you like the pretty black and white patterns on your face and the sticking flowers in your hair thing-

Dress up as a fashion conscious zebra! Not an appropriation of a culture! Yay!

So many youtube “gurus” are doing sugar skull halloween tutorials this year. Not cute, just appropriation. 

This was a big one for me because I was always a HUUUGE fan of skulls and skeletons and death before I learned about Dia de Los Muertos, and I also love that Holiday for all it stands for. I love the idea of not being afraid of death, and there are some aspects of that to Dia de Los Muertos, but also my own philosophy. Dress up as a skeleton or the dead, but please be more creative, and don’t make it a sugar skull. I’m trying to think up a design that won’t resemble Dia de Los Muertos so there’s no mistaking. But if anyone thinks this is still problematic let me know… Same with feathers, be a bird or make an outfit with feathers in it, but please don’t be “tribal.”

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.