May we be free of torture, may there be peace in hearts and minds

Intentions for 2010 - kind of like New Year's Resolutions

2009-12-28T18:12:03Z

Here are my New Year's Resolutions/Intentions from two years ago. I've edited and reposted them as I still feel they're good ideas and I could still work on putting them into practice.

I prefer to use the term 'intentions' as life is more flexible and unpredictable than the term 'resolutions' would imply, and one of my greatest goals is to learn to become more patient and adaptable.

So - here are a few of mine for 2010, a few new ones and some carried over for last year as they're more of a long-term process:

1. Invest time and energy and thought into keeping and maintaining positive friendships. The more I have lived the more I realize it is important to have a support system to get through life, and as an artist and activist I grow and learn through developing ideas and projects together with others. I've learned a lot and gone in new directions this past year just from conversations in this journal, and very much value friends who can challenge me to become a better, smarter, wiser person.

2. Become wiser with the resources of money, time, etc in this life. Just become more intentional and don't spend a lot of either without good reason. Also, learn to humble myself enough to let people help me and other people contribute and plan things out financially without rushing in to make sure things are done up to my standards or assuming other people can't or won't take care of something. There's a time to take responsibility for something myself and a time to graciously let others find the joy of helping and coming together and having a way to demonstrate their love and support. Just learn to let situations work themselves out, let go of pride and control.

3. Especially once I am done with Winter Sunrises, make reading quality books a priority. There have to be at least an extra ten or fifteen minutes before bed which I can squeeze out for reading - something scientific or literary or culturally important in some way. I'm realizing that psychologically I need the time to myself to think a coherent thought without interruption, and the best time for that is either lunch at work or when everyone is asleep at home.

4. *giggles* Try one more time to straighten my room more frequently. Whether I see other things as more important or not, the fact is that I live with someone who takes pride in the way our house looks and finds it a reflection of her as a person - so it's an act of compassion to keep it halfway decent. I can start by having a book leave the house every time I finish reading it - giving it to the international students, Grandma, a friend, or someone else, just so they don't stack up by my nightstand.

5. Celebrate life. Celebrate beauty. Realize that no experience, however ordinary, messy, silly, depressing, frustrating, etc is ever wasted because it can be transformed into the craft of writing and art and beauty. Work to combine my human and environmental activism with celebrating the beauty of life - because honoring and acknowledging people's capacity to appreciate and create beauty goes along with respecting them as full, equal human beings. Namaste - I honor the spirit within you and all other living (human or not) creatures.

6. (A new one) Get better at taking care of practical tasks 'in the moment' - i.e. throw things away when I see trash, wash dishes when I see them, etc.

7. (New one) Become more intentional about keeping and maintaining contacts in my job search. Set up at least three informational-type networking interviews by contacting people and companies for January. Find a partner to keep me accountable in regularly progressing with this.

8. (New one) Learn how to respond to criticism and critique from other people in ways that don't sound arrogant or as if I'm brushing them off, even unintentionally.

9. (New one) Practice French and review my Spanish so I don't lose what I've studied for eight years.

10. (New one) Exercise more regularly...even 50 jumping jacks before going to bed, and drink water, as I'm finding being dehydrated really affects my moods.

Please feel free to share your own intentions or any other comments :) Let's come together and create a vision for the new year.

Abba's I Have a Dream, sung by the Angel Voices boys' choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neOX4e82nEw

I Have a Dream lyrics:

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

ladycatherina @ 2009-12-27T15:37:00

2009-12-27T23:37:27Z

Here is a post to honor and celebrate those we loved and lost in 2009. You all may join me in contributing remembrances and loving thoughts through comments.

I remember my brother's fiancee's father, David B. who passed on early last year of brain cancer, and hope for a cure. Known as the "Gummy Bear Man" in Sunday school, he loved laughing and playing with children.

I remember an old international literature professor of mine, Dr. Marc Blanchard, a real character. An old Marxist, joker, philosopher, social activist, sailor, and literary person whose roots went back to the UC Berkeley free speech movement. He and I didn't agree on everything but he was a true believer and an idealist.

I remember Farrah Fawcett and her energy and brave battle with cancer, and Michael Jackson's energy and loyalty to his friends and family. Also Ted Kennedy and his years of political service in the United States.

I remember the victims of the Fort Hood shooting, and others who passed on due to violence, illness and stress of the world economic crisis. And all those who lost homes, dreams, marriages, businesses, etc.

I remember the hundreds of thousands who died this year due to preventable diseases, vitamin deficiencies, malnutrition, etc all over the world. Your tragedies may have seemed quieter and your names may have been less well known, but your passings mean as much as anyone else's and you are not forgotten or unacknowledged. Hopefully in the future people will support international debt relief, Farm Bill reform, microcredit entrepreneurship and community building programs and the ONE campaign, Mercy Corps, etc.

I remember everyone in Darfur, the Congo, Uganda, Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq, everywhere else where there is trouble and fear. May a loving, creative St. George or Georgina rise up to restore love and beauty and peace and slay the modern-day dragons of fear and terror and poverty.

I remember anyone and everyone else on our hearts. May you rest in peace and creativity and transcendence forever.

Please feel free to join me in posting remembrances. Love (and dreams) never die!

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g

Theme song - Deathcab for Cutie's I Will Follow You into the Dark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfBw0IWwO5U

Lyrics:

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles brusied by a lady in black
And I held my toungue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon
The blackest of rooms

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

Reaching out for forgiveness in 2009

2009-12-27T04:52:54Z

Per my tradition during the days preceding New Year's Eve, I extend forgiveness to anyone and everyone who has hurt or negatively impacted my life. I forgive people who cut me off on the highway, people who lost their temper with me, people who took what I said in LiveJournal communities the wrong way and got upset with me, people who have harmed me in any way this past year.

I invite others to share their intentions to offer or ask for forgiveness in comments to this entry ;)

For 2009, I forgive family members who got in my face and ranted, or who trapped me in impossible situations and brought me into drama they had going with each other. I also forgive people who were short with me when they got stressed out, and people who lost their temper with me.

I ask for forgiveness for some major irresponsibility of mine early this summer - and for losing my temper with people. Also for sneaking around and not being as open and honest as I should have.

I also humbly request forgiveness from anyone here I have offended or annoyed or hurt this past year, as well as suggestions on how to do better next time.

African singer and performer Vusi Mahlasela on forgiveness:

Even with what he endured, Mahlasela, 34, does not carry the bitterness of South Africa's past - "If you don't forgive, you end up as the one suffering most, and I think there is wisdom in forgiveness," he says. He's been a big supporter of his homeland's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was established in the postapartheid era as way for victims to confront their persecutors, and for the nation to move from recrimination to forgiveness. On "The Voice," Mahlasela takes the song "Weeping." written by a white South African former soldier about apartheid, and makes it into a clarion call for reconciliation.

As Mahlasela and his fellow black South Africans once found righteous defiance through their voices joined in song, music has also become a salve of healing for a wounded nation, he says.

http://www.vusimahlasela.com/?id=3&prid=6

Video of his song for his grandmother who endured the brutality of South African apartheid, Thula Mama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW0SMk-HJ3M
(I couldn't find a video of the Wisdom of Forgiveness song, or would have posted it.)

Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" (RIP Michael Jackson - lyrics read, 'I'm making a change..starting with the man in the mirror!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGeZYednWtI

She Gracefully Surrenders - Thoughts on Winter

2009-12-27T03:46:52Z

Reposted from Care2.com's Daily OM writing selections:

She Gracefully Surrenders
Winter

In fall, the earth begins the process of releasing all the things she has been holding onto throughout spring and summer, and by midwinter she has let everything go. She sits clean and undecorated in her simplicity, free of the frenzy of life that defines her in the warmer seasons. There is a quiet humility about the earth in the winter months, as animals and people retreat inside to escape the wet and sometimes freezing cold that takes hold. Inside our homes we create abundance and warmth in response to being effectively kicked indoors by the dark and cold that permeate the outdoors.

We burn fires in fireplaces and make heavy, hot foods to keep our bodies warm and insulated. We may find ourselves sleeping longer hours and yearning for downtime, just like the animals deep inside their caves and warrens taking a winter-long nap. Even if we live in a warmer climate, the longer nights and shorter days have the same effect on our cycles. If we surrender to this time as nature intended, we allow ourselves to slow down, sleep more, and lower the volumes on our busy minds. At the same time, we crave company in our dwellings, and the insulated warmth of the hearth tends to bring people together, creating more warmth and fostering connections that last through the coming year.

We laugh, eat, and talk, sleep, or catch up on reading, while outside our windows the earth grows dark earlier and stays cold longer, accepting as always of the process of change and her place within it. We might remember to learn from her as she so gracefully surrenders to the emptiness that precedes all form, the peace that precedes activity, the darkness that precedes the light. For everything she gives and teaches, we might offer a blessing, extending a goodly portion of the gratitude of this season her way, holding her in our hearts and thanking her for our very lives.

Lonely at Christmas in SF? Some ideas from Craigslist

2009-12-25T03:07:59Z

(This was originally posted on Craigslist 12/24/2001. I'm not the author but it helped me during a sad time in my life so I post it every year on behalf of the real author in the hopes that it might help someone else.)

Christmas bums me out. I have no family, and most of my friends have died. I have no place to go for a friends & family & tree dinner and day of Yule Tide Spirits. However, I won't pule about my misery. I've done this for the past four years and it works for me.

But. This is what I do to make Christmas bearable for me.

Preface this with saying that this Christmas looks like it's going to be nice weather, so no reason to sit isolated at home!

OK? These are just my things. Think of some of your own, too.

1. Get out of your apartment.

2. Take a walk.

3. Ride MUNI somewhere neat. The drivers aren't happy about working Christmas, so be nice to them and greet them with "Merry Christmas," and thank them for the transfer. Make eye contact with other passengers and smile.

4. Go to different parts of town you've not been to.

5. Round up some of that spare change you have in a jar or such ... carry it around with you and give it to panhandlers and watch their surprize ... sure, let 'em buy a beer or cigs or whatever. It's Christmas for them, too. Who am I to judge?

6. Walk through parks -- those w/city views are great ... there will tourists taking pictures. Since they can't take pictures of everyone themselves, offer to take a picture of their entire family, group, whatever. Tell them welcome to San Francisco.

7. Go to a movie. Sure, be that weird person alone in the theatre. Laugh you ass off. Nothing freaks out folks more than the lone person daring to laugh at a movie while seated alone. (And you'll get a seat all to yourself!) Or go to a sad one and cry and watch the space you get.

8. If an opportunity arises somewhere, tell someone that something they have or are wearing is really neat. Like, "Those are really great earrings." Or, "I really like the color you did your hair." You know when you meet those bordeline cases of folks with questionable self-esteem, such as myself and yourself, why not give them a little compliment?

9. Almost forgot! SMILE! Look folks directly in the eyes and smile. Maybe even say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays".

10. You need to eat. Think of some place you'd like to eat. Ain't nuthin' wrong with eating alone. If you can afford it, get the steak or the shrimp or whatever. If you can't afford it, get the cheaper thing. It's important to keep your gut filled to stave off depression! TREAT YOURSELF to something good. I won't suggest any restaurants (although Victor's Pizza on Polk Street makes one mean Chicken Marsala and they're great folks).

11. Meet someone walking a dog (a friendly dog, of course) -- compliment the owner on the dog and ask about it -- how old is the dog, what's his/her name, ask if it's ok if you can pet it. Let it jump up on you and lick your face. Make a big fuss over it.

12. Watch for happy, festive people -- on the sidewalks, on the streets in cars -- say hello, wave at them, be cheerful.

13. Tell some single mother dragging a load of kids that those are really neat kids, or what a pretty little girl or handsome young boy. Whatever there.

14. Check out stores which might be open ... buy yourself something. Even a trinket, a keychain.

15. Buy a greeting card or two -- later at home you can send them to Aunt Marge or an old friend you've not talked to in a while -- just let them know that it's Christmas Day and you're thinking of them. Tell them that you love them.

16. Go to the beach ... check out the Cliff House, buy a corn dog, smile at folks ... walk along Ocean Beach walk there ... alot of folks are there wanting some holiday cheer, too.

17. Find a bookstore if any are open ... find a book -- some good pulp or whatever -- remember as you read it that it was your "Christmas Book."

18. Round up all your old bread, cereals, crackers and such ... crush them up ... put in plastic bag and take to park and feed to birds. Even pigeons get bummed on Christmas.

19. On your way home, stop and get a pint of your favorite Haagen-Daas or Ben and Jerry's or whatever ... or get a cobbler or pie to cook ... OR BOTH!!! Indulge yourself. Don't bother with a damn bowl. Just open your pint of ice cream and get a spoon.

20. Rent a video/DVD ... get one of your favorite old movies or something new. Put it on, mid-way put it on pause, and refer to #19.

And I could go on but why? Just get out there. Smile, be happy, give to others, make others happy, make yourself happy, do things that make you happy, enjoy yourself. Don't be bummed that you may be alone ... believe me ... you are not. Yeah, sure, maybe this ain't exactly Christmas as we have been led to believe it should be, but hey, why not try making it you own?

Like I said, I have been doing this for the past four years or so ... I feel like I've been with people, and when I'm ready to come home and put on that video and get into that ice cream (Ben and Jerry's "From Russia With Buzz" is my personal favorite) -- I dunno.

But you know, I come home Christmas evening and feel good about having taken photos of groups of folks who will love those pictures forever, for having smiled at strangers, for finally breaking down and giving those pesky panhandlers some spare change, for treating myself to a nice meal, for being alive, for living in the Greatest City in the World ...

There is so much great stuff in the world, and in this City of St. Frankie ... it is really easy to make yourself up as you go along ... it's all up to you and ... well, I have spent my last Christmas in a loonie bin ... though some may think you/me might belong in one ... but hey, it's all up to you and to me and to everyone else. You can fill your day with little things which make you happy and more importantly, making other people happy. Even though that poor girl may wonder why you complimented her on her earrings. But I'll betcha this: she is gunna wear them more often.

Peace, y'all. Life is what you make it. Give more than you take. Give little things. Enjoy whatever you may receive in return.

Strive to be happy. It's not as hard as it might seem.

Peace, Love & Happiness to You All.

The City of St. Frankie has been very kind to me -- throughout loss of friends, loss of jobs, much sadness ... there is great happiness to be found within and without you. And this is the best place on this earth to experience it.

PLEASE ... if you have some really horrible response to my good-will posting, please don't send it to me.

I have only posted this because I have run into sooooo many lonely and dishearted folks this season. I open myself up here to let folks know what I do to beat the Christmas Blues!

"We cannot do great things on this earth. We can only do small things with great love." -- Mother Teresa

New Year's Celebration Online 2009!

2009-12-14T20:41:36Z

Everyone, sorry for the late notice, but we're hosting our traditional annual online New Year's Eve party in this journal (http://ladycatherina.livejournal.com/) again this year. Got started back when I first moved to the Bay Area and everyone I knew was scattered among various states and countries or didn't have the cash for food for a party or gas to get there.

How this works is that somewhere around the morning of New Year's Eve Pacific Standard Time, I will post a virtual description of a party - complete with a decorated house, food, music, drinks, and a place to share memories of 2009 and hopes and dreams for 2010.

For an idea of how this works, here's a past year's virtual party: http://ladycatherina.livejournal.com/300058.html

Everyone from around the world is invited to come along and participate at any time that night or the next day - write a comment describing what you're wearing, what you're doing, what you're bringing (recipes are great!) and talk with anyone else by responding to their comments along with me! In past years people have danced, played Pokemon, traded gourmet recipes, and talked philosophy and remembered loved ones, through hundreds of comments.

All are welcome, regardless of whether you're friended to this journal or not...and we're inviting Synchronized Chaos Magazine's readers and others I know from other communities.

I view New Year's as a philosophical/spiritual holiday as well as a fun time for a get-together...this is the truly democratic, inclusive winter or summer) holiday, as everyone, regardless of how lonely or broke or sick they are, can have hope and resolutions for the new year. It's a time when we can choose to forgive, let go of past grudges and move forward into a future with unlimited possibilities, when old barriers can be broken and new dreams realized.

New Year's Eve was the night in Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights when romantic antihero Heathcliff let go of years of resentment towards people who had wronged him and on whom he'd previously spent most of his time exacting revenge. Then, out of the power of love and honoring the best within himself rather than the worst, he broke through the boundaries of life and death, time and memory, money and class, and found a real spiritual connection with nature and others and his departed lover, Catherine.

So, in that spirit, let us all join in forgiving the past and embracing the future, the promise of infinite creative possibilities where all are welcome.

Posted for comments and discussion - how to respond when accused of racism

2009-12-09T23:59:21Z

From fenners

Blog entry with advice on how people can respond when someone lets them know something they've said, or some attitude they're projecting, is prejudiced and offensive. I think the person makes some good points, about honestly considering what the other person has said and not automatically getting defensive.

I do believe people of all colors, races, orientations, nationalities, abilities, political orientations, etc are capable of having prejudices of some sort or another and should be open to self-examination. I know I returned to my hometown with prejudices about the place and people there and am still in the process of becoming more educated and open minded.

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/12/02/how-not-to-be-insane-when-accused-of-racism/

Two great comments this post received:

Axiom 1: At heart, everyone is an asshat.
Axiom 2: Everyone has the power within them to act better than their intrinsic nature.

Don’t forget that most of racism stems from economic status. The wealthier the circles you hold, the less you see of it. Its often a crutch for frustration with other issues in life. There are always exceptions, of course.

In other news, we're still looking for help for Kristie's kids for Christmas! Just received an email from her with an updated wishlist.

We're looking for gifts for my sixteen year old son, fifteen year old daughter, six year old niece, five year old nephew, and another seventeen year old nephew, and a six month old baby.

My 15 year old son wants a gift certificate to Lens Crafters in the Mall - Northgate Shopping center for him to get frames, an exam, and lenses (so he can see.)

He also wants one of those wave machines, where the wave sort of oozes back and forth in this plastic/glass square rectangular box. It's pretty to look at and I think the waves move on their own (synchronizing.)

He also wants a Synthesizer to make that noise when he's auditioning.
He needs XXL or 3X men's long sleeve t-shirts. He likes them either plain colors or surfer style (brands).
He loves puka shell necklaces.
He would love to have one of those touch screen laptops (but he knows that is not within his reach or scope, at least not this year).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My 15 year old girl wears a size 8.5 shoe. She wears a medium size top and size 8 pants. She desperately needs shoes. She also wants to learn to sew.

She's very wholesome and likes these shoes: American Eagle Savvy Fur Wedge from Payless Shoe Store - She wants the mushroom color, not black. :)

http://www.payless.com/store/product/detail.jsp?productId=66154&catId=cat10088&lotId=072822&selectedSegment=Adult&subCatId=cat10045&width=5.0,Regular&size=5.0,Regular Size 8.5 Her soles are all worn. Mushroom color, not black.

Please comment if you can help, I'll send her address to anyone who asks - or will come and pick up and deliver gifts.

Happy Holidays!

Our magazine would love some help with our holiday gift drive

2009-12-08T00:47:36Z

Everyone - Synchronized Chaos Magazine (which is online at http://www.synchchaos.com) is sponsoring a holiday drive for the Ford family, whom I've personally known for years. They have periodically submitted work and contributed to our magazine - some of Kristie's writing is already live for our upcoming December issue. The children are talented vocalists and graphic artists, and the mother has serious writing ability and I continually encourage her to go professional, as much as she can from home.

The two teenage children live with their elderly grandmother, as Kristie (the widowed mother) lost custody of them as she could not properly care for them due to her illnesses (melanoma skin cancer, narcolepsy, ADD, and the legally disabling mental illness of Delusional Disorder.) Kristie receives $860 a month disability income, $400 of which goes to her rent, and she sends as much as possible of the rest to her mother and her children. She's survived several mentally and physically abusive relationships and is also dealing with court costs and legal issues as a result of these.

There aren't too many resources in her area to help low income families...what does exist in San Rafael is targeted towards another very poor area of town, not where they live.

Kristie has a teenage boy (16 years old) and a teenage daughter (15 years old) and three nephews and nieces: a five year old boy, a six year old girl, and a six month old baby girl.

Food and gas money is a struggle, and she's gone hungry several times in the past few months. They cannot afford anything special for the holidays. So, our magazine staff is putting together a Christmas gift package for the family, and I'm inviting all my professional colleagues to contribute. This is our holiday tradition...every winter we pick our neediest contributing writers/artists and host a donation drive for them with their consent.

She gave out her address for me to privately distribute...but I can also pick up and deliver any gifts or donations, so if you'd like to help, please respond and let me know and let me know where you are.

Reposted, from Kristie Ford:

Sizes and wishlist for the children:

Poncho - Michael - size XXL
Surfer style clothes - Michael - size 42/30.
Megan - size medium shirts, size 8 women's pants.
Puka shell necklaces - 16 yr old boy
Necklaces - 15 yr old girl
Knitted hats - 15 yr old girl
Cowboy boots - 15 yr old girl
Tennis shoes - 16 yr old boy
Bikes - Full size mountain bikes (men and women)
Sweat pants/casual - 16 yr old boy, 15 yr old girl
Shoes - Michael wears a size 12 men's.
Megan wears a size 8.5 (8 & 1/2) women's
Tickets to concerts: (check out santacruiser and savetheseals on ratemydrawings.com for their favorite bands). Also, check out their links (posted on sites) to YouTube accounts as well.

Please send or deliver gifts, unwrapped to 263 N San Pedro Rd #107, San Rafael, CA 94903 between November 15, 2009 and December 15, 2009.

Directions:
Take the N SAN PEDRO ROAD exit.
Turn Left on MERRYDALE RD - go < 0.10.2 mikm
Turn Left on N SAN PEDRO RD - go 1.01.7 mikm
Arrive at 263 N SAN PEDRO RD, SAN RAFAEL
Turn left on Schmidt Ln.
You will see the Venetia Oaks Apartments sign.
Immediately... turn right into the parking lot.

Call Cristina (me) at 510-589-8252 or email me at cedeptula@sbcglobal.net or contact Kristie at kristie@luckymail.com for questions or pickup.

Thanks so much for reading this, and thank you very much to anyone who can help! Regifting is fine, as is digging out any old gift certificates you'll probably never use. Gently used items are wonderful so long as they look nice. Reposting is great, too ;)

Happy Holidays!

Cristina's Holiday Cards

2009-12-08T00:17:04Z

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Cheery Kwanzaa, Blessed Hopeful New Year, whatever you celebrate - time for cards, if you'd like one!

Please feel free to leave me your address in a screened comment or at cedeptula@sbcglobal.net if you'd like a holiday card and I'll make sure to get one off to you.

Just visited The Lab http://www.thelab.org/events/406-postcard13.html and picked up miniature art pieces reflecting my hopes and wishes and blessings for the lives of some of those close to me...will gladly include something from there or from elsewhere in my art collection with your card.

Also - for those in the San Jose area, Wednesday Evening Writers meets this week, 4-9 pm drop-in at Caffe Trieste (315 South 1st St. downtown) on the 9th. Please feel free to bring any piece for critique or come and listen.

And for those who'd like to help out for the holidays and perhaps have something to regift to a needy family...there's Synchronized Chaos Magazine's holiday gift drive for the kids of the Ford family in San Rafael: http://community.livejournal.com/chaos_zine/6728.html

Social media, the Hughes family, and nonprofits (draft for SHIFT magazine, please read)

2009-10-21T09:45:23Z

Everyone, here's a draft copy of a piece I'm writing for Silicon Valley's Shift Magazine - which goes out to local tech and finance and other corporate CEOs and educates them about opportunities for corporate donations and social and environmental responsibility.

It's about how and whether blogging and social media can work to raise cash/awareness for nonprofits and people in need...using one formerly homeless mother and daughter, Katy and Liz Hughes, as a case study.

I just went out to San Jose this week and met Katy and Liz, who are excited about this story...would love to see some of my LJ-friends take a look at this piece and help me improve the writing and/or suggest some resources which might help the Hughes family, as they need jobs and income to keep their apartment and are struggling to get enough to eat and stay warm this fall/winter.

The piece is quite long (2000 words) and my editors will cut it before publication - if you're in a hurry please just read the beginning and end. Thanks so much!!

Katy's blog is http://destinationanywherebuthere.blogspot.com - and her mom Liz is online at http://elizaann914.blogspot.com/ - and hugheselizabeth@rocketmail.com (hooked up to PayPal.)

“Even if they do end up homeless again at least we know that we helped to give them a window of warmth, food and shelter. Sanctuary, if you please.”

Oregon public relations professional Julie Bonn-Heath reviewed her experience last winter helping San Jose mother and daughter Elizabeth and Katy Hughes raise cash and locate resources through online social media.

Bonn-Heath campaigned to assist the family after noticing a Tweet from Idaho suspense author Brandilyn Collins, who had been sending Elizabeth free copies of her novels after learning of the family’s financial troubles.

“She was a lifelong fan of my writing, and reached out to me, and we struck up a correspondence over time,” said Collins. “Elizabeth is very polite, in an old fashioned way. She’d send a real, handwritten letter each time thanking me for the free book.”

Although she did not personally know the Hughes family, Bonn-Heath could relate to their experiences somewhat, as she herself had lived through tight financial times after giving birth to a premature baby.

Her Christian faith also inspires her to reach out to others. “Jesus touched the lepers, he healed the blind and he hugged those buried deep in sin. He loved the hearts underneath it all and I believe He wants the same of us.

The fundraisers for the Hughes family unexpectedly went viral, involving people across the nation, as far away as the East Coast, and eventually gave the family a temporary reprieve from the streets. Hundreds of people looked up organizations which could help, donated cash via PayPal, or re-Tweeted messages concerning the Hugheses, posted links to blog entries, and set up and invited others to join Facebook groups related to the cause. Local television news stations and eventually CNN.com picked up the story after checking out the facts.

Now Elizabeth, Katy, and many others look for ways to harness the power of social and traditional media to develop stable, long-term solutions to make and keep their family self-sufficient.

Formerly middle-class, the Hughes family lost everything after Katy’s father passed away and after covering their share of the costs of some health challenges. They are definitely not alone in Santa Clara County, where the 2007 Homeless Census counted 7,202 homeless persons. During the point-in-time count, the survey found that 29% of the homeless were living in shelter facilities and 71% were considered unsheltered.

Spending nights in their old station wagon, waking every few hours to move when security guards evicted them from various parking lots or when dangerous-looking characters approached, the Hughes family would have been classified with the unsheltered majority.

The primary reasons the 2007 Homeless Census cited for Santa Clara County residents’ losing their housing were unemployment and underemployment. People are much more likely to have landed on the streets due to sudden job loss than addiction issues, family violence, or incarceration.

“Everyone says to be responsible and have six months to a year of income in your savings account, but what if your job search goes beyond a year?” said Collins.

Elizabeth Hughes agrees, and describes some further challenges job seekers face.

“It’s hard to find work if you’re older,” Hughes said, as she and Katy and I chatted mid-October over Quizno’s sandwiches. “Every place, even retail stores, tends to want a young, hip image. Especially if you’ve been a stay at home parent and have gaps on your resume.”

Landing stable employment, receiving a positive response from one of the hundreds of jobs Elizabeth applies for every month, would enable her and Katy to stay in the Cambrian Heights studio apartment where an anonymous donor has funded six months of rent after hearing about the family through the social media campaign.

And both mother and daughter have professional-level marketable skills, although obtained in non-traditional environments and thus harder to communicate and sell to the corporate world. Katy is homeschooled by choice and because she suffers from BPVC, a syndrome causing severe migraines, dizziness, and nausea. Her mother has developed and administered curriculum for her over several years, and she has already performed quite well on practice versions of the California high school exit exam.

Katy gave me a mini-tour of her sketchbook, which, along with blogging and Twittering from a laptop bought while the family was still on their feet, helps keep her sane. According to Brandilyn Collins, Julie Bonn-Heath and others, she shows enough dedication and skill to work as a graphic designer. Although they have no money for art supplies or graphic design software, Katy dreams of attending art school in San Francisco and becoming a professional. She asked me about various careers involving illustration and marketing, and I suggested contacting and networking with people already working in the field.

Katy will likely require financial aid and some guidance navigating the system to obtain the education she needs to use her talents for society’s benefit. With too much income to qualify for some county social services, and too little to qualify for others or completely support themselves, the Hugheses struggle to eat and afford bus and train fare to get to job interviews.

“I’ve talked with people at the top of the largest charities in town, and they say that unfortunately they can’t help us. And we don’t qualify for welfare or food stamps either,” said Elizabeth.

“By the time we pay for medicine and utilities and a tiny bit of gas for our car, there are days every month when we go hungry. And we save wherever we can, we don’t even run the heater in the winter.”

The family also brings in income however they can: Elizabeth holds regular garage sales and sews reusable cloth tote bags for people to bring shopping and thus save paper and plastic. Katy sells her artwork online, and is trying to land work at Best Buy or a bookstore or anywhere else while finishing high school.

“My teacher will work around my work schedule, right?” she asked, winking at her mother.

Health and safety concerns have previously interfered with her plans to assist her family, as Katy becomes sick at random moments. At night the Hugheses’ two small dogs will awaken her mother during her dizzy spells, so Elizabeth can help her into a position where she can breathe safely without choking. Also, the neighborhood where they previously lived was unsafe to the point where Elizabeth did not want her daughter to go walking alone, even during the day.

These kinds of logistical concerns and Catch-22 situations present obstacles to many Santa Clara County working families attempting to stay, or bring themselves, out of poverty. According to the social service organization Step Up Silicon Valley, the official guidelines for assistance need serious updating to reflect local realities and keep many people from falling through the cracks.

“In Santa Clara County two adults with a pre-school and school age child would need to earn $68,430 a year to make ends meet; this is more than three times the Federal Poverty Level which is $21,200 for the same-sized family.”

The federal poverty level, used to determine eligibility for many types of supportive services for which people assume struggling families qualify and receive, comes from tripling the price of estimated family food costs. Step Up Silicon Valley has found this measure inaccurate over time and instead uses a different measure, calculated by the local Insight Center, which incorporates transportation, child care, health care co-pays, taxes, and money set aside to save for the future.

People have asked Brandilyn Collins and Julie Bonn-Heath and many other bloggers passing on the word about the Hughes family why people need private donations and help through social media when government and private charity programs already exist to assist the poor.

Bonn-Heath described how she, Collins, and others did seek out local Santa Clara County resources to assist the Hughes family, including social services, clothes closets for business suits, food banks, and a church group to befriend mother and daughter. However, the national publicity raised additional, badly needed support.

“Especially in this economy, the local groups want to help, but they’re often understaffed and underfunded and don’t have the resources to take care of everyone they intend to serve. The online and news media attention can often help the local charities by making people aware and encouraging them to donate,” Collins explained.

As was the case with other social-media campaigns, including the recent Twitter-based Beat Cancer corporate fundraising effort, where Coors and other firms donated cash towards cancer research for every tweet containing ‘beatcancer,’ and Julie Bonn-Heath’s successful fundraiser for the sick baby of a writer friend of hers, the online medium can harness the energies of those unable to donate. One can help without contributing financially simply by reposting, retweeting, or inviting others to join a Facebook community.

Bringing so many different people on board works to create community, in ways actually not so different from traditional face to face networking. Brandilyn Collins hit upon this as she further explained how and why she got involved with the Hughes family.

“I already knew Liz, she was a fan of mine before she became homeless. You don’t have to go out and find strangers who need help, most people can start with their own circle of friends and family, people they already know,” said Collins. “For me, the people I knew best were the ones who knew me through my writing.”

A perception exists that the Internet connects the entire world into a global village, and it can provide larger outreach possibilities for isolated people or organizations. Still, most people can only realistically sustain close relationships with a certain number of people. So, what the Net has accomplished in practice, as these examples show, is either getting large groups to take a simple action (clicking, retweeting) or facilitating communication and mutual support among small groups brought together by mutual interest rather than geography.
Liz and Katy’s extended family cannot help at this time and live far out of the county, so the pair rely on the makeshift online social group which has developed over time.

“Americans assume your family will step in to help if things get too bad for you, but that doesn’t always happen for everyone,” Liz said. Collins, Bonn-Heath, and others agree a need exists for more local community social infrastructure to care for those who come upon hard times. It remains to be seen whether the Internet can adequately address that need.

One major challenge individuals and nonprofits face when using social media is how to maintain long-term public interest in a cause.
“Everything got so much harder last summer, when Katy and Liz became homeless for the second time,” Collins said. “People wondered why things didn’t work out in the beginning.”

Collins said she was not sure how to keep up support other than continuing to explain the situation and educate people.

“People think our story is over because we have housing for now,” said Liz Hughes. “But there’s a lot more to it. I have to find a job, or we’ll lose the place and get back where we started. And I have to find resources to help with healthcare and all our other expenses.”
She turned and stared down at the concrete, and spoke more softly. “And I don’t think I can go through living in the car again.”

Thousands of other working-poor, homeless families in the county, in and out of shelter programs, would likely say the same. Helping a family reach a decent standard of living can require more sustained care than public assistance programs can currently provide, and certainly takes longer than the month or two an online campaign may operate.

To end our lunch conversation on a slightly more hopeful note, I asked both Liz and Katy to share their dreams for the future.

“I’d like to do something for others in this situation, especially women. Help them get back into the job market,” said Elizabeth.
She and Katy currently volunteer at the local library, creating posters and protective covers for books.

“I’d just like a chance to relax. To laugh and read and draw, not to have to move all the time or worry about money,” said Katy. “And not to have people talk about us or judge us for having bad luck.”

Blogging and other social media tools have provided creative outlets for Elizabeth and Katy Hughes, and a space for them to share their story. Hopefully, these tools can help find them employment and a bridge to a stable future.

October's Solo Sundays - free treat for Synchronized Chaos readers ;)

2009-10-18T03:40:50Z

Hey everyone - once again, as a monthly treat for our readers and everyone in the Synchronized Chaos family, my colleague Bruce Pachtman offers free tickets to October’s San Francisco solo spoken word productions.

I’ve seen some of these performances before…spectacular stage presence and a wonderful ability to communicate with, educate, and build rapport with the audience, all while making everyone laugh, cry, and smile.
You may either simply show up and say you’re with Synchronized Chaos Magazine at the door and get in free with a promotional media ticket - or go ahead and buy your $10 ticket to support emerging artists and the defiant resurgence of culture despite the faltering economy.

SOLO SUNDAYS

Going beyond stand-up and storytelling, solo performance creates casts of thousands – plus special effects – all bursting from one person. The results are hilarious and heartbreaking, passionate and provocative, ablaze with the personal vision of one very compelling actor/writer.
Solo Sundays, S.F.’s premier monthly solo theater showcase, presents select samplings of veteran virtuosos and top emerging talent in the intimate 50-seat StageWerx theater, a block from Union Square.
Please reserve your seats in advance to make sure there will be enough space for everyone.

Anyone who’s 100% certain they will attend just needs to copy and paste these four items into an e-mail:
1. Solo Sundays - Oct 25 at 7:00 (please say you are with/heard about this in Synchronized Chaos Magazine - http://www.synchchaos.com!)
2. StageWerx Theatre 533 Sutter (nr. Powell)
3. Your FIRST and LAST name
4. Whether you would like one or two tickets (additional tickets are $5 each.)
And send it to brupach@gmail.com. We’ll respond to all requests for tickets.

OCTOBER’S LINE-UP
· Vanessa Lee Khaleel’s “The Rooster” finds one woman queasily confronting pregnancy and childbirth’s freakier physical effects.
· In “Cracked Clown,” David A. Moss portrays a Shakespearean actor trying to silence his bickering inner demons via comedy, but voices from his painful past remain.
· Julia Jackson’s “I Didn’t Sign Up For This” rides modern adoption’s emotional roller coaster with a birth mother speaking to her unborn daughter while her own fed-up mom rages over beers and American Idol.

THE DETAILS
Solo Sundays
Sunday, October 25 at 7:00
StageWerx Theatre
533 Sutter St. (nr. Powell)
SF
(near Powell and Montgomery BART stations.)
TICKETS
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/86250

Cat rescuer seeks help for kitty dental work

2009-10-06T21:13:42Z

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pet/1407799041.html

Humane trap-neuter-release cat rescuer in Dublin/Pleasanton seeks funds for dental work for cats in pain. If you're able to help please check out the Craigslist post above...it's for the kitties!

Solo Sundays - free tickets/spoken word show announcement!

2009-09-23T10:42:20Z

The producers of the Solo Sundays/Words First series, a critically acclaimed showcase of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best solo spoken word performers, are offering a limited number of free tickets to this Sunday night’s performance at StageWerx Theatre.

Solo Sundays performers blend original humor with poignant, thoughtful commentary on modern life. Topics explored include race and intergenerational relations, coming of age or facing midlife crises in an unsettling economy, and coming to terms with one’s spiritual and/or cultural background.

Each of the solo spoken word actors brings an incredible level of energy and dedication to his or her piece, and develops his/her writing within a supportive professional community geared towards helping emerging artists to perfect their craft. You may find yourself re-thinking your values and attitudes while laughing and having fun. I’ve had the privilege of attending several of these multi-layered, complex presentations and remember nodding with recognition and relief at several moments because someone out there actually understood my thoughts and experiences…even while watching the actors play characters from cultural backgrounds very different from my own. At other times the humane, insightful storytelling provoked me to reconsider and challenge my assumptions about various types of people.

Solo Sundays’ producers invite Synchronized Chaos readers and contributors to experience for free the joy, creativity, passion and wisdom of their productions.

If you are 100% CERTAIN you can attend this Sunday night’s show, please copy and paste these four items into an email to brupach@gmail.com :

1. Solo Sundays at StageWerx Theatre
2. Sunday, September 27 at 7:00
3. Your FIRST and LAST name
4. Whether you’d like one or two tickets (additional tickets are just $5 each)

We will confirm all reservations. Again, only respond if you are 100% certain you can attend. Thank you very much, and we look forward to welcoming you to the show!

Solo Sundays
Sunday, September 27 at 7:00
StageWerx Theater
533 Sutter (at Powell)
San Francisco

Writing and art classes and submission opportunities

2009-09-15T03:25:00Z

San Francisco Artist Network Professional Development Seminars for Visual Artists, covers topics such as Presentation: Preparing Your Artist Statement and Packet, Promotion: Creative Venues to Show Your Artwork, and Networking Online and Offline.

Several seminars, reasonably priced from $15-30 for an evening with Dr. Stephen C. Wagner, professional artist and art educator.
Located at venues around San Francisco and Oakland and a few in Marin County. Link for directions and more information here: http://web.mac.com/stephencwagner/iWeb/SFArtistNetwork/PROGRAMS.html

Global Affairs - a Spanish online journal for international relations graduate students and professors covering highlights, features, and perspectives on world affairs - at http://www.globalaffairs.es - seeks a Spanish/English translator. If you are interested please email (si tenga interes por favor escriba a) Eva Diez at eva.diez@globalaffairs.es

From Robert Brewer, editor of the Writer’s Market online version:

I’m looking for “publishing experts” to interview for WritersMarket.com. If you’re a publishing expert who’s interested in being featured on the site, then please send me an e-mail with the subject line “I’m a publishing expert.”

What qualifies as a publishing expert?
* Published author of books (fiction, nonfiction, children’s, or poetry)
* Freelance writer who gets regular work with multiple magazines
* Staff writer (magazines, websites, or newspapers)
* Freelance or salaried editors
* Freelance copy writers, technical writers, etc.
* Playwrights (who’ve had their work performed)
* Screenwriters (who’ve sold or optioned scripts)
* Agents (literary or script)
* Book publicists
* Artistic directors at theaters
* Producers
* Conference or Contest directors

Bottom line: Make a case for being a publishing professional, and we’ll go from there as far as the interview. (Note: I don’t want writers who wish to someday be publishing experts; I’m not interested in that slant, though I’m sure I’ll still get a few who pitch that angle to me.)

Specs:
* Send an email to me at robert.brewer@fwmedia.com
* Have subject line read: I’m a publishing expert
* Include your name and a short paragraph or two qualifying you as a publishing expert
* If possible, include some areas that you would be especially skilled at discussing (For instance, publicists would be good at talking about things they do for authors to promote books. Remember: WritersMarket.com is slanted to the needs of writers trying to get published and/or paid for their writing efforts.)

Please feel free to forward this message as you see fit.

Best,

Robert Lee Brewer
Editor
Writer’s Market
WritersMarket.com

Co-songwriting with Willie Nelson

2009-09-11T08:15:50Z

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists
Don't let 'em quote back cover copy and ride them late BART trains
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists

*They'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love*

Publicists ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold
And they'd rather give you glossy flyers than diamonds or gold
Buzzing cell phones and reusable coffee mugs, each night begins a new day
And if you don't understand her and she don't die young
She'll probly just schmooze away
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists
Don't let 'em quote back cover copy and ride them late BART trains
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists

They'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love

Publicists like sparkling cocktail parties and garden get-togethers
Large book clubs and press releases and star-studded nights
And them that don't know her won't like her
And them that do sometimes won't know how to take her
She ain't wrong she's just different
but her pride won't let her do things to make you think she's right

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists
Don't let 'em quote back cover copy and ride them late BART trains
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists

They'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists
Don't let 'em quote back cover copy and ride them late BART trains
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be literary publicists

Magazine article: Caregiving 101 - My Crash Encounter with Poverty

2009-09-11T04:47:45Z

Caregiving 101: My Crash Encounter with Poverty

“There’s a word for what you’re doing,” the leader of my parents’ church’s financial management seminar’s small group explained. “I just can’t think of it right now, but it’s a big concept even in secular psychology.”

We stared at each other over the empty Starbucks table, solemnly determined to maintain our fiscal discipline and order nothing. The word the woman struggled to remember was codependent, her analysis of my situation, where I had assumed the responsibility of caring for a newly widowed, severely disabled single-mother friend of mine of many years. My friend’s surviving family members were either way out of the area or disabled themselves, and I began helping her out after realizing she had gone without food or electricity for several days because managing daily life and expenses on SSI without her husband proved impossible. She’d lain in bed, depressed, dizzy, and unmedicated, barely able to attend the small memorial gathering.

Caregiving for a blood relative can be difficult to manage along with one’s other work and school responsibilities, and it was even harder for people to acknowledge and tolerate how I had stepped up to the plate for someone not technically part of my family. People close to me lectured me about setting boundaries and not becoming a ‘sucker,’ and admonished me that I was only responsible for my own nuclear family and “God would raise up someone else” to handle this friend if I would only find the courage to back off. Companies and nonprofits would not speak to me concerning her affairs due either to legal confidentiality rules or disbelief that someone who was simply a friend would take the time to accurately relay information.

I landed myself in several listed categories of America’s most-annoying and least-professional people. The colleague who keeps taking personal calls during work, the young chick in front of you texting during a movie, the loud inconsiderate commuter responsible for the famed “Cell Yell” mocked on VTA buses, the distracted friend who keeps disappearing during nights out to deal with something else.

Also, for the first time I understood how much hard work and serious skill it takes to be poor. All the hours on the telephone, speaking with various bank managers and requesting different forms to reverse a $20 overdraft fee, as that bank error chewed up a week’s worth of grocery money. The networking techniques I remembered from my career-building seminars, which I now used to locate decent physicians who’d take on a new Medicare patient out of pity. The complex social service applications, intended to get her the aid she desperately needed to survive adult ADHD and narcolepsy but challenging in themselves because of her conditions.

The research involved with finding out exactly which companies accepted what kinds of alternate forms of payment after her credit rating dropped so low that normal bank accounts and credit cards became impossible. The advertising copywriting which went into dozens of Craigslist posts selling or trading any and all of her household items for children’s clothes, canned food, bicycles…a middle class family’s normal low-level purchases at Walmart or Ross. The legal negotiations for simple matters which became major issues through what my UC Davis sociology professors referred to as the criminalization of poverty. Uninsured, unregistered vehicles driven just for ten minutes down to the food bank, suspicious store managers who misinterpreted her insistence upon small refunds after losing receipts as possible petty theft.

I now believe the world’s working poor have developed enough professional competence simply through their survival techniques to step into many of the middle management positions my luckier fellow students now hold. Especially in the beginning, I messed up her affairs in thousands of ways, forgetting to make phone calls, sending in crucial applications past the deadline, stammering on to receptionists who wanted me to get to the point. Yet many people handle these issues flawlessly every day, on top of raising children and working full time.

Vowing that if I were ever in a position to hire others, I would value personal as well as professional experience, I mentioned my caregiving background in some early cover letters. Along with many hardworking people, determined to stay strong and resilient, I choose to view the lack of responses as a sign of the troubled economy and stiff competition for jobs, and an incentive to work even harder to improve my skills.
For the past few days, I have heard relatively little from my friend, which I hope is a sign that she’s ‘between crises’ and doing all right.

Like some parents of small children, I alternate between moments when I am ready to scream and precious times of gratitude, love, fascination, and awe at the amazing woman who has become closer than a sister to me. She sends me beautiful, hand-designed stationery and e-cards, provides professional –level insight into my early thesis and article ideas, and at times literally sacrifices every penny to her name for abused stray animals or her children (now under her mother’s care.) She dreams of and works towards starting a small career-coaching business and launching the careers of poor but artistically talented teens in her community.

And, in these moments, I catch my breath and remember that caring for her is worth it – not because of what she does or wants to do, but because of who she is. And, after that meeting with the financial counselor at Starbucks, I took the coffee gift cards I’d meticulously saved up after the holidays and drove up to take my friend out for a treat. For a time we forgot the rest of the world and simply enjoyed each other and that small space to breathe and exist – as family members by choice.

Synchronized Chaos Magazine's Anniversary Party!

2009-08-20T07:02:17Z

Everyone here is invited to Synchronized Chaos Magazine's anniversary party and networking mixer for those interested in the arts, creative writing, journalism, nonprofit management/entrepreneurship. We're getting together next Friday, August 28th, in Castro Valley at Knudsen's Ice Creamery - drop-in anytime from 5 to 10 pm.

This is a reception for our artists, writers, musicians, and featured community and world leaders, as well as a networking and celebration event for all of us. Lots of eclectic flavors of ice cream (including dairy-free options) available, as well as hot sandwiches and cider.

We have a Facebook page for the event, or you may simply email cedeptula@sbcglobal.net to RSVP - or just show up! Please call me at 510-589-8252 for directions...the Creamery's website is here: http://www.icecreamery.net/

Synchronized Chaos Magazine now accepting submissions of all kinds

2009-08-13T23:47:49Z

All artists and writers in this community are invited to submit work to the literary/artistic/cultural/nature and travel writing/scientific webzine Synchronized Chaos. This includes novel excerpts - we encourage novelists to provide some description of the project along with the excerpt and a link where the whole piece may be purchased. We also do book reviews for fiction and nonfiction.

Information on the zine and how to submit, from the Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20763137372&ref=mf :

This is all of our new brainchild, an art/cultural/literary/scientific/social commentary/essay webzine tentatively called "Synchronized Chaos" (referring to some kind of not-obviously-apparent logic that emerges spontaneously from randomnity, basically a fun way to have a theme without having a theme.)

Sort of a way to help the aspiring artists we constantly meet to get their names out there and spotlight some excellent work which should have an audience but the artists don't want to go through the publication process. And to give people committed to worthwhile causes a way to speak out or to use their personal experiences to educate others.

Everyone's invited to submit (and everything should be accepted, unless it's obscene or hateful). If you are interested please send a submission via email anytime. We're working towards setting up a regular editing board and designating people to handle certain kinds of submissions, but for now you may use my email, cedeptula@sbcglobal.net

We're online at http://www.synchchaos.com with a lovely format designed by Tabitha Smith (http://www.tabithagracesmith.com) and invite you to check it out!

We are not a paying market as of yet but hope to become one as we grow and sell advertising and/or host contests. The magazine's online contents will remain free to provide artists and writers with the greatest level of exposure possible.

So far we have received a good variety of submissions, and look forward to more! We're also chaos_zine on LJ and would be a publishing credit for any visual artist or writer to put on his/her bio or proposal or resume.

You may either pitch or send a completed product (attachments OK but prefer writing or thumbnails or JPEG images pasted in the body of the email.) Please put "Synchronized Chaos Submission" in the subject line and please feel free to include an artist statement or bio if you would like.

Also - our magazine is as much about building community and relationships with artists as it is about publication. We'd be happy to see artists and writers post and chat with each other in chaos_zine or on the Facebook page and would be glad to comment/critique or dialogue with you about your work if you would like.

Help a writer get back on track ;)

2009-08-11T21:17:05Z

Came across this Craigslist posting today - seems a decent cause as she’s furthering her education and legitimate career possibilities through writing-related entrepreneurship! I’ll send a few stamps, putting this out there for others too.

WOMAN IN PRISON WISHES TO CHANGE HER LIFE. I NEED STAMPS FOR COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE STUDIES. FOR EVERY DONATION I WILL SEND YOU AN ORIGINAL POEM!
PLEASE SEND STAMPS TO: GERRIE WATKINS X37619
CCWF- A501-B9-2LOW
PO BOX 1508 CHOWCHILLA, CA 93610

Update - please comment with any info about day-jobs in the SF Bay Area in marketing/PR/journalism

2009-07-20T00:49:37Z

Sorry for the lack of substantive updates the past couple months - finished up the last semester of my master's program in May and completed the article on Bay Area immigrant entrepreneurs surviving the recession. Met the most fascinating lady from Chile Lindo, a Peruvian restaurant in the Mission I still plan to try.

Took a short trip down to Carmel with family ... visited the beach and several art galleries as it was cloudier this year, including an Ansel Adams exhibition showcasing his work and also the photographs of fellow artists such as Georgia O'Keefe who had influenced him. Curated by his son Michael Adams.

Reconnected with some old friends recently - also Mom met up with an old college roommate and I helped her 'dress hipster' for dinner at Tartine in the Mission. We settled on a plaid scarf and dangly earrings...unfortunately my aunt (her sister) is hospitalized with kidney problems and needs dialysis. We're sending love/prayers and I'd like to come visit myself but she's too tired to have many visitors. Helping another friend move into a new apt. in the city...just fetched a bookshelf from Community Thrift and discovered a lovely new coffee place with a Rasta/hippie vibe.

Went to a science writers' dinner at the Basque cultural center in South SF - on the search for possibly habitable exoplanets.

Networking with San Francisco's Green Drinks at the 111 Minna gallery - people of all ages interested in sustainable technology fields, scientific research related to the environment, environmental campaign work, etc. Would love to see more inventors and research scientists come on out there - do love the new photographs up at Minna's intended to show a slice of life in the Bay Area...the father and son fixing a bicycle together, the old man eating ice cream, etc. Great place, I meet someone interesting every time I attend! http://www.sfgreendrinks.org

Also attend Sketch Tuesdays (public drop-in drawing events where everyone may create and put their work up on the board for auction) there...and dropped by San Jose's Kaleid Gallery, where I spoke last April on social network marketing, for a group show of up and coming artists.

Wrote feature articles on Oakland's Future Leaders Institute (high schoolers organizing community service events and projects) and Everywun.com social entrepreneurship website which lets people donate to plant trees, feed children, etc by taking quizzes and surveys. Also the Pocket Opera (landed me tickets for myself and fenners" to a performance of Carmen - and I do believe she loved Don Jose, she just couldn't settle down to suburban life and didn't want to admit that about herself since she wanted everything and everyone all at once!)

Currently putting together a feature on coffeehouse culture in the East Bay, originally intended as a tribute to Crosstown in Alameda where I go for open mics and art events, which faces serious financial problems. We're covering Crosstown as part of a larger piece designed to feature some of the businesses which have taken a chance on Synchronized Chaos' up and coming artists (short fiction author David Mitchell came from Crosstown, Augusta Collins and band play jazz Fridays at It's a Grind, we publicize Amnesty International events at Zocalo's in San Leandro, etc.) Starting and maintaining a small business or franchise is a work of art ;) Interestingly, we received our first piece of queer fiction from a Crosstown regular!

Helped out at our community's Vacation Bible School for a couple weeks - got assigned to crafts, enjoyed the kindergarten/1st graders as some had an awful lot of imagination and we got into convos about where our names came from, about how the oysters made pearls (theme was Treasure Seekers and we were the Pearl Diver team.)

Kristian and I visited the Beat Museum in SF ... would definitely recommend it and am trying to get a copy of Beat Angel, the new film where Kerouac's spirit comes back to inhabit the body of a homeless man and encourage several writers at an open mic, for review. Also we took a Bay minicruise to see Alcatraz and Sausalito from the water.

An old high school friend is getting married...attended her bridal shower and her wedding is this coming weekend in Oakland.

Hiked through Lake Chabot several times, also attended a gallery show entitled "Breathing Underwater" right in Castro Valley. Many realistic island or beach paintings but some abstract work too. Women from the National League of American Pen Women are putting on a show August 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Hayward City Hall (777 B St.) and I love how they're trying to rejuvenate/start up a Southeast Bay art world ;)

Attended a book signing in Pleasanton with Lisa See mid-June...love the intense historical research and the fragile loveliness of her writing, whether about dynastic or modern China. Also going to meet Sarah Dunant, one of my all time favorites (Company of the Courtesan, Birth of Venus) this Thursday the 23rd at 11 am at Towne Center Books. Everyone come out and I'll say hi and we can go to coffee afterwards ;)

Theano's Day - posting to celebrate resourceful women philosophers in tough times

2009-06-25T06:28:24Z

For Theano's Day, I'll honor the contributions of women thinkers and researchers who kept their philosophical pursuits alive and lived out their values during tough financial times.

Anna Doyle Wheeler http://www.women-philosophers.com/Anna-Doyle-Wheeler.html left a bad marriage and made sacrifices afterwards for her daughters' education, including not having a home of her own and trading services in exchange for room and board with various friends and family members. She translated major French philosophical works of her time into English and also wrote treatises on the nature and value of education and on women's freedom and rights.

Laura Bassi http://www.women-philosophers.com/Laura-Bassi.html produced work in physics and fluid dynamics as well as theoretical philosophy. She lived in Italy during the 1700s and raised twelve children together with her husband, so probably had to balance time and money also. She lectured from home at some points when her children were very young.

Christine Pisan http://www.women-philosophers.com/Christine-Pisan.html was left a near-bankrupt widow with children, and supported herself through help from from family and friends and eventually through freelance writing ;) She wrote on the nature of virtue and ethics, and created some stylized courtly love poems.

Theano, today's namesake, was part of a larger group of women and men in the Pythagorean school: http://www.women-philosophers.com/Early-Pythagoreans.html Many of their writings survive to this day, and include work in geometry, mathematics, artistic proportion and balance, beauty, and the purpose and meaning of life. Theano had daughters who wrote philosophical documents also, and whose writings form part of the early Pythagorean works.

Theano's Day Posts...will update as more come in!

2009-06-24T21:22:27Z

Brandon's post on the ideas and history of Socrates' teacher, Diotima of Mantinea: http://brandondedicant.livejournal.com/ Diotima introduced Socrates to a paradigm for finding and understanding beauty at higher and more abstract levels, starting with the physical world and going deeper into the realm of ideas.

Kristie LeVangie, creator of the Shades of K- podcast, writes to celebrate Margaret Fuller and educated, thinking, and hardworking women everywhere who balance the life of the mind with work and family responsibilities: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.viewcustom&friendId=458113705&blogId=496569695&swapped=true

Callisto's post on Simone de Beauvoir...she included the Wikipedia link to provide a comprehensive overview of Beauvoir's life and works in terms of existentialism/freedom of choice and her feminist ideas, such as how she believed women should not be objectified as 'other' and 'mysterious' and should just be thought of as regular people: http://callisto24.insanejournal.com/42036.html

Valeria Holtz' comparison of the ideas of Margaret Cavendish and Alfred Whitehead, in terms of the active role of the mind in generating and understanding knowledge of the physical world, and in terms of looking at patterns that emerge over expanses of space and time rather than separating and reducing observations to certain discrete units. Holtz argues that Cavendish's ideas resemble Whitehead's more so than currently thought, and that she certainly laid the groundwork for many of his seminal concepts. http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgzwhsd5_0j64qh2ss

I will add more as they come in, and will create one myself later.

Music for Theano's Day: Eneida Marta's Mindjer Doce Mel (Woman Sweet Honey) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWwuNoFR9U From Africa's Guinea-Bisseau (northwestern coast), Marta sings accompanied by a calabash water drum - a gourd placed in water - and the video shows girls and women dancing, swinging, and reading. And there are plenty of men in the band too, having a wonderful time singing and thinking.

Reminder - Theano's Day is this Wednesday, June 24th!

2009-06-23T07:40:06Z

Everyone - Theano's Day, the international day to blog about a female philosopher you admire, is this Wednesday, June 24th. You may write on anyone, living or dead, of any country or culture. Your blog post, in whatever blog software you use, may be any length or style. Please feel free to write however you would like to describe and celebrate someone's contributions to philosophy! Please also comment here with the link to your post once you write it so we can compile them together into one large post and people can read each other's writing.

The woman you choose may be a traditional, scholarly academic philosopher (Hypatia, Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, etc) or someone primarily known for contributions to other fields (literature, mathematics, science, home-making, etc) who also developed some type of philosophy. Philosophy is broadly defined here...can be rigorous logical philosophy in the line of Kant, Hume, Plato, etc...or some other relatively coherent type of thinking related to our place in the world, the nature of knowledge, free will and destiny, ethics, etc.

Theano was actually picked as a mascot because she represents a work/life balance. As Pythagoras’ wife she helped him raise five children and put together writings on a wide variety of topics, including advanced mathematics, child-raising, and the role of proportion and balance in art/aesthetic theory.

The point is that people who tackle the Big Questions - who we are as living beings, our place in the universe, theories of knowledge and how we know what we know, freedom and destiny, etc can still be people with lives and families and other responsibilities. They’re just people who chose to follow that intellectual path and extended the logical framework with some new ideas.

Theano’s Day is intended to honor the contributions of people throughout history who may have had some worthwhile or logical ideas but were not properly recognized for whatever reason. And to stimulate interest in the field of philosophy in general…with the world economic crisis people are turning away from financial/moneymaking enterprises and finding themselves out of work more often than before, and perhaps philosophy is a field which can continue to move ahead as it is dependent more on thought, study, and communication than expensive technology. There is more to life than financial success … coming back to valuing thought and philosophy might bring some balance back into our societies. With the world in the state it’s in, perhaps rediscovering old and unexplored, or looking into new ideas might lead us down different and better paths.

Anyway, everyone here is welcome to participate in Theano’s Day - you may visit the Pledge Bank site for more information or just simply blog on the 24th and comment with the link so we can compile the posts!

Pledge Bank site: http://www.pledgebank.com/theanosday

Here’s a list of a few women philosophers to get you started: http://www.women-philosophers.com/

Site about current women philosophers: http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10740&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Some women to start with if you need help thinking of someone: Hypatia of Alexandria (mathematician and scholar), St. Catherine (mystic and humanitarian), Sor Juana (Mexican nun and intellectual) and Florence Nightingale and Jane Austen, each of whom developed a worldview and philosophy through their writings on various subjects.

Join me on Everywun!

2009-06-15T22:24:56Z

Hey everyone, I know you get bugged about joining a million or so of these communities and sites, but this place, Everywun, is actually free and interesting. It's an advertiser-supported site where you can earn points through answering quizzes, taking part in discussions, etc and redeem them to plant trees, provide education, feed hungry children, etc. http://www.everywun.com

Best part is the regular newsletter...short articles with hints and tips and activities and suggestions regarding enjoying life and making the world a better place, targeted to the cultural-creative generation but readable for everyone.

The site is a project of a software guru colleague of mine, Dan, who actually still personally reads and produces the newsletter entries as they come out three times a week. The name came to him in a dream...and the discussions there get interesting. We've talked about the nature and methods of forgiveness, how best to communicate environmental messages, and how to start small and build things up from the grassroots.

http://www.everywun.com/signup?i=1551891

Whole Earth Festival seeks recyclable donations...also juried art show seeking participants!

2009-05-05T11:00:52Z

1. Announcement from my alma mater, UC Davis, which hosts an annual art/music/cultural/social justice/environmental festival called the Whole Earth Festival every Mother's Day weekend. They're looking for recyclable donations for their children's activity center, Kidspace...announcement below.

Party people! What up!

This year Kids Space will be creating an ongoing paper mache project throughout the festival, radical! But in order for it to actually happen I need all of you to be kind enough to donate some trash/recycle bin items for the cause. Thanks for making WEF the iriest event around!

Please start saving your:
cereal boxes
toilet paper rolls
egg cartons
strawberry baskets
any other throw away/recycle things with a good surface for placing wet pieces of newspaper on

Also, if you have an abundance of kid friendly paint or paint brushes that you would be willing to donate to Kids Space I will be majorly stoked!

Catch y'all, thanks again,
Dan

*If you are near Davis, CA you may feel free to bring items by the Kidspace tent on the Quad (UC Davis campus lawn area, central campus near the Memorial Union.) Ask anyone on campus - One Shields Avenue - and they can direct you to Kidspace or leave them in the main Whole Earth Festival tent.

Next announcement...juried art show, call for submissions!

Canvas Ghost Productions in San Jose, CA seeks artists to produce two dimensional visual pieces related to the theme of "Allusions/Illusions." As far as I know there is no residency requirement or entrance fee for this show...the deadline for submission of email images/the submission form is September 1, 2009 and the art drop-off date is October 3rd.

The show will be held October 10th at 992 South 8th Street, San Jose, CA. The South Bay has a thriving art scene, although quirky at times...and I'd love to see it get more publicity!

More information is available on their website: http://www.canvasghost.com/October_2009_Show.html