HOPE

Hope;

Hope is this Thing with feathers;

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me

Emily Dickenson

Happiness

Happiness truly is a feeling of contentment, a radiant glow....of not wanting..of feeling grateful..of being in the present moment and knowing that is enough..
Are you content and  happy with who you are? Do you glow?

We'll know Suu Kyi's fate within 24 hours

 We'll know Suu Kyi's fate within 24 hours

      After being detained for 15 of the past 21 years, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be free tomorrow… if Myanmar's rulers don't change the rules first.



We've been waiting for this day for so long - the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi could be set free as early as tomorrow, November 13.

Our anticipation is high, but we've also been here many times before.

In fact, Myanmar's rulers could decide to tack arbitrary conditions on to Suu Kyi's release that bar her from any and all future political activity. That is, if they decide to release her on this date at all – she could be held until February 2011, depending on when they actually dated the start of her 18-month term of house arrest. No one knows for sure.

Don't let Myanmar's rulers change the rules - ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi is freed tomorrow.



Less than a week ago, Myanmar's military party swept the country’s first elections in more than 20 years amid heavy criticism and allegations of widespread fraud. As a result, thousands are fleeing the region as violence erupts.

The growing tension puts Suu Kyi's release date even more at risk of falling under the regime’s capricious judgments.

But releasing Aung San Suu Kyi, while still blocking her rights and freedoms, would be a flat-out violation of all laws, rules and basic respect for humanity.

Suu Kyi's freedom should have never been stolen in the first place.

Tell Myanmar's rulers that Amnesty International is keeping track and according to our records Aung San Suu Kyi's unconditional release is long overdue.

But we continue to hope because we've seen change happen before in places with appalling human rights records.

It was the tenacity of Amnesty International supporters that helped lead to the release of the two American journalists in North Korea. Our vigilance strongly contributed to the release of Musaad Abu Fagr, a blogger in Egypt. And it was our unwavering hope that helped lead to the release of Ma Khin Khin Leh, another one of Myanmar's more than 2,200 political prisoners.

We can build this fire again for Aung San Suu Kyi, but we need your support now.

We've already seen the spark start within many of you, like the nearly 2,000 people who have joined us in our 'Stand with Suu Kyi' photo slideshow1.

That's the kind of light we need for Suu Kyi. That's the kind of light we need for every last prisoner of conscience in Myanmar.

Thank You,

Michael O'Reilly
Senior Campaign Director, Individuals at Risk
Amnesty International USA

P.S. Aung San Suu Kyi and Su Su Nway, another prisoner of conscience in Myanmar, are featured in Amnesty International's Write for Rights, the largest and most powerful global letter-writing event. You can continue to shine a light for all prisoners of conscience in Myanmar by signing up to Write for Rights.


1. http://www.amnestyusa.org/individuals-at-risk/priority-cases/stand-with-suu-kyi/page.do?id=1691013

Update: She is Free. Watch the video here.

Revivified

We will all sit together to break fast, quench thirst, slake hunger and sate revivified senses while our eyes drink the blue ocean and our hearts eat the sun like a fruit--Genevieve 1917

Jai Uttal - Guru Bramha

Fill in the Blank

My muse goes into hibernation
I do not know why

And when it stirs
and struggles in the cocoon


and finally breaks free
into the light of the day

had had waited
what felt like an eternity

just meant all the more,
no other kiss,ever matched

or surpassed your golden ore
the warmth, the tendeness flowed
Cleverest of all tricks behold

my soul rejoiced, my life anew

only to find out
that death was upon me

only a short distance away
lingering, lurching toward me in the brightest of the day


Songs of consuming
No colourful wings.

Only ashes.

the pain of death

lost in silence and forever repressed

'till floodgates opened through your words
asking me to fill in the -----

a glimmer of hope, of salvation

Alas turned into
jewel crusted sword

euphoria slowly fades away

Jordan, Paris parfait

Quote from Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

The German magazine Spiegel documents the decline of the American superpower part 2

(Written by an American expat living the European Union)


A review of the German magazine Spiegel - November issue entitled The Nouveau Poor: Recession Shadows America's Middle Class.

My horoscope

You are a real visionary on most days. You see new beginnings and possibilities and potentialities where other people just see a regular job or an abandoned old lot or a park bench.

 You're seeing even more than usual. And it burns brighter and with more promise, than usual. This is great: It means that you are really on to something. Follow your instincts!

People's motivations are not always apparent.

The world hurls forward in mysterious ways. You're not sure why things are happening in a certain way on Monday and Tuesday, but the mere fact that you're thinking about such questions places you ahead of the pack.

Wednesday and Thursday are inspiring. The excitement you get from a small discovery makes you crave still more great finds, and your enthusiasm infects others. Friday and Saturday, you're constantly dissecting the difference between fantasy and reality. Sunday is positively electric.

Your friends and family may not be good company. If you find that you're the only one in a positive mood, stay away from negative people. Spur-of-the-moment activities can be fun today. Ask a new coworker to lunch or take a day trip somewhere new. Changing your scenery could lift your spirits.

Nasrin Sotoudeh Needs URGENT Help: Continues with Hunger Strike

NASRIN’S HEALTH IS IN DANGER!  7 WAYS TO HELP:
1) Change your profile picture to one of Nasrin Sotoudeh to show your solidarity
2) Send emails to government officials, media, and international organizations like the UN calling for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh
3) Send e-letters for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh by the request of Shirin Ebadi
4) Write to EU foreign ministers on behalf of Nasrin Sotoudeh
5) Write a letter from Amnesty International for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh
6) Join the Nasrin Sotoudeh Facebook page for the latest news and actions

7) Sign the petition for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh Speaks Out on Iran’s Human Rights Violations

Write to Save A Life: Global Write-a-thon

More than 21,000 people will be writing over 80,000 letters for human rights. Now that's power!
Join us and make your pledge to Write for Rights.

Behind prison bars in Iran, Majid Tavakkoli, a student leader, is being held for speaking out at a demonstration marking Student Day.

Iran regime depicts male student in chador as shaming tactic

Treatment of Ahmadinejad critic backfires as his sympathisers post similar images of themselves on Facebook

Behind prison bars in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is being held for her efforts to uphold human rights.

Behind prison bars in Iraq, Walid Yunis Ahmad, is being held even though he has never been charged with an offense or brought to trial.

Write a letter. You can save a life.
Shine a light on these cases and more when you pledge to Write for Rights December 4-12.


Year after year, the proven power of letter-writing opens prison doors and saves the lives of those with overwhelming odds stacked against them.

Four of the people spotlighted during last year's Global Write-a-thon have been released from prison or have seen their conditions drastically improved. That's the power of the letter. That’s the power we can generate when we join together to write for human rights.

And it's so easy! Just tell us how many letters you pledge to write.





Once you sign up, we'll send you all the tools and tips you'll need to get the most out of your Write for Rights experience.

Whether you're writing by yourself, going to a Write for Rights event near you, or are hosting your own Write for Rights event, the key is to honor human rights on behalf of those who cannot.

If you pledge to shine a light for those facing severe human rights abuses, then they will never be held in darkness.

In Solidarity,

The Write for Rights team

FIND US HERE:

"Women are Heroes"

TRAILER " WOMEN ARE HEROES",
Uploaded by JR.

JR got his start as a photographer after finding a camera on the Paris metro. His interest in vulnerable populations - women, victims of war, the disenfranchised - led him to affix large-scale portraits of the faceless to building facades, walls, rooftops, buses and trains in some of the most impoverished parts of the world. He works uninvited, creating illegal photo exhibitions that engage the community and encourage discussion.
For the project Face 2 Face, JR mounted enormous portraits of Israelis and Palestinians facing each other in the opposing territories, forcing unavoidable daily contact between laborers engaged in the same line of work. He plans to return to the fraught region with a project called "Hand in Hand."
In 2008, he focused on women as targets of conflict in his Women Are Heroes project, traveling to Sierra Leone, Kenya, Sudan, Liberia and the slums of Brazil, where violence and repression are a part of daily life.
JR's film for the Women are Heroes project received a standing ovation at Cannes -

Sunflower Girl

Sunflower Girl

Paintings by Maryam Savoji

She is a fantastic painter, a great artist, and a beautiful woman.

Maryam Savoji is one of the few Iranian artists to be featured online by London's Saachi Gallery.

 When we look into the dark depths of anything sometimes we lose sight of the ripples. Don’t under estimate where your ripples will travel or how far. Any of us could be that single fallen leaf, we all cast ripples. It is up to us to paint them with color.

Find your Center

a senses journey {a meditation}

 

Z gallery

...those baby owels are so cute...

Salon de la Photo 2010

Read Tara Bradford's report in her fantastic blog, Paris Parfait.

A French photographer demonstrates photo techniques Friday at Sony's space at Salon de la Photo,



Photo by Tara Bradford


This show looks like it would have been a fun one to attend. I would have had camera/lens envy big time.

Fine Wine Maker

Darioush Winery, founded in 1997, is located on the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley in northern California. Completed in 2004, the palace-like winery projects an image of Persepolis, an ancient town in Iran, attracting particular attention on the Silverado Trail. Over the past 30 years Khaledi's passion for fine wine transformed him from collector to producer, and Darioush is the culmination of his worldwide search for the ultimate vineyard estate.

Between

This just leveled me....weeping like a little girl.

someplace between, this is where i see you. me. me (you) trying to find my (your) way. lost (at times) as the rain drums upon the roof. choosing (at times). i must seek the truth. so much energy pushed toward the spiral dance of figuring it (you) out. i fear i am parched from the seeking. then the truth whips through me again, tugging until i pay attention. it is not the seeking but the spinning. it is the fear of losing grip on the handle of all that i know. all that i (think i) know. the spinning pushes me away from myself (you). i am pushed toward all that i already know. someplace between (the knowing and the spinning), this is where i am.

"Who am I"?

“Lead with your Weakness” and things shifted

Are there "Who am I to..." sentences holding you back?

Joshua Radin "No Envy No Fear" live at Paste

some are reaching few are there
wandering from a heros chair
some are scared to fly so high
well this is how we have to try

have no envy and no fear
have no envy
no fear

brother brother we all see
your hiding out so painfully
see yourself come out to play
a lovers rain will wash away

your envy and your fear
so have no envy
no fear

when your sister turns to leave
only when shes most in need

take away the cause of pain
by showing we're all the same
have no envy
no fear
have no envy
and no fear

every day we try to find
we search our hearts and our minds
the place we used to call our home
cant be found when were alone

so have no envy
no fear
have no envy
no fear

Opening a beautiful book and never get passed the preface....

The Opening of Eyes That day I saw beneath dark clouds the passing light over the water and I heard the voice of the world speak out, I knew then, as I had before life is no passing memory of what has been nor the remaining pages in a great book waiting to be read. It is the opening of eyes long closed. It is the vision of far off things seen for the silence they hold. It is the heart after years of secret conversing speaking out loud in the clear air. It is Moses in the desert fallen to his knees before the lit bush. It is the man throwing away his shoes as if to enter heaven and finding himself astonished, opened at last, fallen in love with solid ground.   -- David Whyte       from Songs for Coming Home       ©1984 Many Rivers Press Listen

What is Time?

Time XXI

And an astronomer said, "Master, what of Time?"

And he answered:

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.

Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.

Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?

And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not form love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds?

And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless?

But if in you thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons,

And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

Khalil Gibran
All that lives, lives forever.

Only the shell, the perishable, passes away.

The spirit is without end, eternal, deathless.

The spirit is without End...Eternal....Deathless...,---Bhagavad Gita


source

The Need to Know: Living Beyond Love and Hate

The intrinsic inquisitiveness of children is a formidable force. They are full of the desire to learn, but also of ignorance and uncertainty.

Does that make me a child or/and ignorant. When does this curiosity end? Does curiosity kill the cat? Is it too dangerous to be curious??

All These Years I Just Wanted the Answer to One Question: Why?

Denmark, July 2010

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

Jimmy Dean

I loved you

By Pushkin

I loved you; and perhaps I love you still,
The flame, perhaps, is not extinguished; yet
It burns so quietly within my soul,
No longer should you feel distressed by it.
Silently and hopelessly I loved you,
At times too jealous and at times too shy.
God grant you find another who will love you
As tenderly and truthfully as I.

Another version is at "A collection of poems by Alexander Pushkin":
I loved you: and, it may be, from my soul
The former love has never gone away,
But let it not recall to you my dole;
I wish not sadden you in any way.
I loved you silently, without hope, fully,
In diffidence, in jealousy, in pain;
I loved you so tenderly and truly,
As let you else be loved by any man.
© Copyright, 1996, Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, August 1995,


The closest version to the one read by Max is this version at "Russian Poet, Aleksandr Pushkin":
I loved you; even now I may confess,
Some embers of my love their fire retain;
But do not let it cause you more distress,
I do not want to sadden you again.
Hopeless and tongue-tied, yet I loved you dearly
With pangs the jealous and the timid know;
So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely,
I pray God grant another love you so.

To read what Max actually said, go to the

Pushkin Links on the Web:
The Alexander Pushkin Home Page
Selected renderings of A.S.Pushkin's verse - Genia Gurarie
A collection of poems by Alexander Pushkin
Russian Poet, Aleksandr Pushkin

My Hero, Jane Goodall

ICONOCLASTS - Jane Goodall + Charlize Theron (Episode 1)

Award winning Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall welcomes Academy Award® winning actress Charlize Theron to the Tchimpounga sanctuary in the Republic of Congo, where Goodall works to save endangered, orphaned chimpanzees.

Theron is introduced to adolescent chimps as she and Dr. Goodall discuss the issues facing the young people of Africa and the African wildlife.  Charlize explains how the loss of her father at a young age affected her, while Dr. Goodall describes what it was like being sent into the dense African Jungle in her early twenties and discovering just how similar chimpanzees are to humans. 

 The episode also features Theron working with the young people of South Africa teaching them how to protect themselves from AIDS.

For more info click here.

Arizona's Spectacular sky at sunset

Courage

"I've discovered this amazing and inspirational woman. Alice Herz-Sommer, a concert pianist and the oldest surviving Holocaust victim. She was 39 when sent to the Concentration camp with her 6 year old son and husband. She is going to celebrate her 107th birthday this month. I loved reading this article about an average "day in her life". Puts me to shame. Optimism is the key to survival. We can all learn from her. This is worth sharing.

An excellent reminder that I really don't have any problems. What a divine lady. She is a rare jewel in our world.

source

Love needs Expressing

Copenhagen, 2007

When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning,

by dreams that need completion,

by pure love that needs expressing,

then we truly live life--

Greg Anderson

Carpe Diem...Seize the day

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons--

Ruth Ann Schabacker

Amsterdam's International Institute for social History

Amsterdam's International Institute for Social History Celebrates 75th Anniversary

The institute collects and preserves historic materials on social movements from around the world, including modern day history.

"Inside Job"

“Inside Job”

This  documentary film is  an excellent, anger-inducing take on the events leading to the 2008 financial collapse, the crisis itself and the aftermath.

Along with the Wall Street sleazeballs who saw it coming and didn’t care– or took the opportunity to get rich off of it– Republicans, Democrats and soul-selling academics are not spared.

It’s made by Charles Ferguson, who– unlike Michael Moore– is actually capable of focusing on the subject at hand and building a case. His previous film, “No End in Sight,” was a devastating look at the Bush administration’s criminal unpreparedness for dealing with post-invasion Iraq, and its failure to adjust to the realities on the ground.

I don’t know how widely “Inside Job” is being shown, but try to see it now or when it comes out on DVD.

The Loop

Wikipedia defines love as

the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.^[1] In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. In religious context, love is not just a virtue, but the basis for all being ("God is love"^[2]), and the foundation for all divine law (Golden Rule).




 in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships as  the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.^[1] In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. In religious context, love is not just a virtue, but the basis for all being ("God is love"^[2]), and the foundation for all divine law (Golden Rule).


The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my wife"). "Love" can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of eros (cf. Greek words for love), to the emotional closeness of familial love, or to the platonic love that defines friendship,^[3] to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love. ^[4] This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.
nd, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

But my favorite definition is Corinthians 1 13:4-12 from Paul's epistle.


1 Love does not  hurt - 2 won't hurt, 3 can't hurt.  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  


Is this a glimpse of 'spirituality'? Is this the kind of love expected only of 'God' (for those who believe in the supernatural) or God like people to have? Yet Paul writes to the people in Corinth at one of the most trying time in their history, inviting them to reconsider their notion of 'love'.  

I think it behooves us to take note of this passage, (even if we do not believe in God, church or any religion). These are human words - plain and simple, stating in no uncertain terms that love is extended with no expectation, with no condition, with no reason. It does not guarantee the giver of freedom from loneliness. It does not promise paradise. It doesn't even offer recompense to the wronged. It merely states what love means. If you find these notions strange or 'unfamiliar' then you have not really loved.


We love the way we are loved - as children, in the arms of a narcissist, a victim, an emotionally fulfilled person, a self assured one or an abused person. In one form or another that becomes the blueprint for the way we learn to connect to another. As children we cannot fight back the unfairness.

 We don't know any better so we accept punishment along with words of love. And perhaps, when we grow up, we also apply the same to others. We punish the other for not playing by the rules we were taught. Some of those rules may involve physical abuse, some may include gaining control over another's mind and emotions, some would involve disallowing emotional growth, some would inject guilt. It's all there. We live the blueprint - the code.

Perspective


Feta cheesecake and quince - I died and went to heaven...

Alice in Paris




Mors Island; July 2010

 I miss the sound of silence in Mors.

Coldplay - The Scientist

....I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart.. `

I can't describe this song with words, when I listen to it; it's hauntingly beautiful.
it makes me feel, makes me laugh, cry-well more cry than laugh- and makes me remember.

It's a beautifully written masterpiece.

Coldplay - The Scientist



Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a silence apart

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard

I'm going back to the start