Here is my first Youtube video.
I made it after I got home from dropping Mr. D off at the airport. We were supposed to be flying to Ethiopia today to visit Sanbate but instead he is gone to India for 3 weeks. It is a gorgeous day here, warm and sunny, which makes it worse for missing Mr. D and Sanbate.

Hatchje's new bag.
My design.
Wide eyes in class 3.
"You made that!"
"I did."

Hilary Clinton better back off the "superdelegate" count.

Pledged delegates are those won in primaries and caucuses. Superdelegates are party big-shots. Superdelegates are designed to protect front-runners and make sure dark horses don’t run away with things.

Superdelegates grow in number as the party gets more successful: They include all Democratic members of Congress, members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic governors.

They also are the party warhorses and include “all former Democratic presidents, all former Democratic vice presidents, all former Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic minority leaders, as applicable, and all former chairs of the Democratic National Committee.”

Being a superdelegate is usually just a way of getting to go to the convention, cast a meaningless vote and have a good time.

But that could change this year.

And that’s because superdelegates make up one-fifth of all the delegates at the convention, and this year they could determine the nominee.

Full article here.

The system of superdelegates was invented not just to reward party fatcats, but to make sure “fairness” did not get out of hand.

HA HA HA the Gods are having a hootenanny with us!
We just received word that Sanbate's adoption will be finalized within the next day or two. Which means we WON'T be travelling to Ethiopia this weekend and we WON'T be getting the IR3 visa.

This doesn't necessarily mean that we will be travelling within the next month to bring Sanbate home because California's CIS cable did not go through on the first sending.

MERCY!

Poor Mr.D had purchased his plane tickets through work and they are non-refundable.

There is a mumps epidemic at the orphanage and we are feeling a little paranoid now that they have called off our trip. Did they push the case through just so we wouldn't come out? Were they worried about the legal implications if we came down with the mumps and became very sick?


HA HA HA!

I went to vote this morning and the ballot box got jammed.

And no one is calling us back from the adoption agency.

WE are getting the distinct feeling that many people don't really understand that adoption is "having a baby". That the process of adoption is as fraught with pain and difficulties as childbirth. That sometimes you will be unavailable or need to change your schedule at a moments notice.

But if my husband told his new colleagues and boss at work that I was pregnant and due next month they would understand completely and give him all the room and allowances possible.

Instead, they just conveniently "forgot" that we are in this adoption process and became upset today because Mr. D is flying into a "Not safe for business travel" zone.

One who adopts must be in a constant state of vigilence, educating people whether they care or not. Like those that have different physical needs-

Today I had tea with a friend who is deaf, and has a severe physical ailment that is not always active. When she lived out east she had a collie that was a certified assist dog.She was very well known in the community and didn't have to explain herself when she went into shops or needed to take time off. She misses this and is planning on training her sheltie puppy to get certified.

People who are adopting need this sort of thing- a button or something that says, "I am going far away very soon to bring home our child from ***". That way if people want to discuss it they can, if not they will notice the pin and keep it in mind.

I believe in Obama. I am trusting that, yes we can make sacrifices too as Obama clearly suggests. And that those that are on fire with his words will continue to carry the flame when we are slogging through the work of repairing the damages brought on by the current administration.

Here we come Addis Ababa!
There you are
waiting for us.
Children of this earth
Soon we will carry one of your own.

And never before have we seen this homeland.
And never before have taken such risks of the heart.
For surely we will be touched and moved by the pulse of yours.
Ethiopia.

****************************************
We have booked flights to Ethiopia for Saturday the 9th, flying from San Francisco to Washington, DC to to Rome and then to Addis Ababa arriving Sunday night. We plan to visit with Sanbate on the following Monday-Thursday.

I am going to bring some crafts as well for the older children; clay, beeswax, kite-paper for making stars, weaving boards. We won't be bringing the fine child home with us this trip but soon (next month?) we will. yes, say it is so.

I will return home on the 15th and Mr.D will travel on to Bangalore returning home at month's end.

>

My friend Melanie is a marvel.




She started the Abundance Committee at the school just by inspiring others with her positivity. The kindergarten has been expressing their need for funds for doll and puppet making and voila! Melanie gathered together a group of women to make table puppets. If you know me, I am ALL OVER the puppets. In my first class we spent three quarters of a year making marionettes for our Ramayana puppet play. So, of course I was glad to help make puppets at the school.
30+ puppets made and counting!


Here are the lady puppets I am working on. I am keeping the one dressed elegantly in red.

This entire blog post is lifted with permission from the blogger
No Sleep Til Mysore

FAIR IS FOUL
AND FOUL IS FAIR







The Washington Post recently ran a piece called, "In India's huge marketplace, fair skin sells."

It discusses how Eastern European models with dark hair and light skin are being featured in Indian adverts.


"Indians have a longing for that pure, beautiful white skin. It is too deep-rooted in our psyche," said Enakshi Chakraborty, who heads Eskimo India, a modeling agency that brings East European models here. "Advertisers for international as well as Indian brands call me and say, 'We are looking for a gori [Hindi for white] model with dark hair.' Some ask, 'Do you have white girls who are Indian-looking?' They want white girls who suit the Indian palate."

Indians' color fixation is also evident in classified newspaper ads and on Web sites that help arrange marriages. The descriptive terms used for skin color run the gamut: "very fair," "fair," "wheat-ish," "wheat-ish-medium," "wheat-ish-dark," "dark" and "very dark."

Family elders here commonly comment on a newborn baby's color, after checking out the gender. One of the best-selling skin creams in India is called Fair & Lovely. A men's version, Fair and Handsome, was launched last year.

"The Indian mind-set prefers light skin. My pictures are routinely Photoshopped to make me look a bit lighter -- a lot lighter, actually," Riya Ray, 23, a dark-skinned Indian model, said with a laugh. "But when I work in Britain and France, my color is praised as exotic. It is a two-way trend: Indian models are going abroad, and foreign models are coming here."


I can't help but think of Raj, from my first trip in India back in 2002.

He made frequent trips between Mysore and Bangalore on his silver Honda Hero Super Special motorcycle, and was seriously thinking about getting a helmet.

To protect your head? I asked.

"No, Cadda. To protect face from sun."

Huh?

"So I do not become too dark."

Even Desi TJ - who's lived here for eight years - was concerned last month that his skin looked darker after two months in the Subcontinental sun.

Silly man. Doesn't he know that gori girls dig that sh-t?

Apparently not.

It looks like we will travel out to Addis during the second weekend in February.If Sanbate's adoption is finalized before that, we will save the flight for when we travel her home in March.

Seeing her
sitting there
will be such a feast.
Leaving her there will be an impossible puzzle
but every moment can't be defined.
Let time make us hers.

If she uses it,
it ain't landfill.

Did you notice the cloth diaper and plastic "drop in" bottle liners?
A little contradictory ay?
My excuse is that we will be doing a lot of traveling and uh... how to disinfect the bottle?
You ask, "How to clean the diaper?"
I confess I will be buying "landfill" diapers for travel.

Causticum:

Manifests its action mainly in chronic rheumatic, arthritic and paralytic affections, indicated by the tearing, drawing pains in the muscular and fibrous tissues, seems to choose preferable dark-complexioned and rigid-fibered persons. Restlessness at night, with tearing pains in joints and bones, and faint-like sinking of strength. Burning, rawness, and soreness are characteristic.

Intensely sympathetic
mind; insecure, uncertain, scared; fear; evening;
mind; hysteria;
mind; hurry; while eating;
eye; pain; burning, smarting, gnawing, biting; as if sand in eye;
mouth; teeth; looseness;
abdomen; bladder; urging to urinate;
cough; sensation as though unable to cough deep enough to start mucus;
back; pain; pulling; coccyx (bottom tip of spine); ;
back; pain; in women; during period;
extremities, limbs; skin; itching; like insects crawling on skin;
extremities, limbs; cramps; foot; sole; toes;
Restless legs at night;
sciatica, with numbness;
extremities, limbs; movements and positions; constant movement during sleep;
chorea (convulsive twitching, involuntary movements of limbs);
skin; pain; excoriated (as if grazed, chaffed);
skin; blisters;
skin; varicose;spider veins;
generalities; pulse; frequent, accelerated, rapid; evening;
generalities; twitching;involuntary movements
generalities; flabby feeling;

This is my homeopathic remedy and it is "wicked cool" to see it covers just about ALL of my aches and tendencies. These are "tendencies" or extremes of a type not the full picture of me just the inbalances I occasionally suffer. Laid open for your witness.

Now I know why I have always liked the brown over the pink! And a new word CHOREA! And although I don't have arthritis or paralysis it is amazing to know that many of my complaints are shared with others with similar constitution- I am not dying, I am just caustic.um.

No wonder our adoption agency has a difficult time with me.

Holy Day Doshi.
Ethiopia rebelled against the catholic church, (when requested to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday) and moved to a 49 hour Sabbath to include the eve of Friday to Sunday night. Sanbate was named for the sabbath or holy days of the weekend.

Her name will mean when translated,

Daughter of the sun/born during the Holy Days/ Defies the tyrant.
Elianshu Sanbate Doshi

BAD PARENTS!

When the director of the Ethiopia program from our placement agency found out we were moving to India for three years she told us,

"One thing also to consider is that it's very hard to have major transitions while you are in the adoption process. I know you moved from MA to CA in the process - Moving to India would be another stressful challenge for your family. That may not be an optimal way to begin parenting.

I hope this is helpful."

Actually, it's not.

We have decided, despite assurances that we can obtain a passport for Sanbate within 6 months, to travel to Ethiopia in February to secure the IR3 visa. Whether or not we actually go depends on the ok from Dr. Tsegaye the director of the orphanage. He will be able to check and see if we will make it in time to travel BEFORE the baby's court date. But from the estimates (6-12 weeks from referral) we should have plenty of time.





We have been
"down sizing"
since we moved from New Hampshire to Massacusetts to California. But this is the big daddy in the story of our stuff. We just hope we can continue to keep it simple once we move.

To IR-3 or not to IR-3?
That is the question.
Whether it is nobler to
suffer the slings and arrows
Of Immigration slogging or the
two flights to Ethiopia.

We are in a state. It may behoove us to fly to Ethiopia soon before Sanbate's court date and secure an IR-3 visa so that she will be granted citizenship upon arrival.To do this you need to create proof that both parents have met the child before they petition to adopt the child.

"In simplistic terms, children entering the U.S. on an IR-3 visa are automatically granted U.S. citizenship upon immigration. Those entering on an IR-4 visa are NOT automatically granted U.S. citizenship without finalization of the foreign adoption under U.S. state law."

AS things stand she will be returning home on an IR-4 visa which means we need to finalize the adoption which can take up to 1 year! But flying out now means coming back and flying out again. The flight takes about 20 something hours. Not counting lay overs.

Moving to India will be a problem if little girl does not have a US Passport.

So we are trying to work out the logistics with Mr.D just new on the job. Chances are we thinks he will be required to fly out to India soon anyway and what is a little hop over to Ethiopia? Addis to Mumbai is only 4 hours.And unlike US airlines, it is relatively easy to buy a flight in India at the airport for an Indian destination.

We finally made it to Stinson beach, a sleepy little beach town on the coast of Muir Woods.

I know I have said this before but in time this whole adoption process will be a good deal easier, cheaper and more efficient.

According to my research and info. our agency has shared with us we will have to "re-adopt" our child when she comes home. When she arrives in the US she will be a legal resident but not a citizen. That is, unless the Ethiopian gov. issues her a IR-3 Visa which grants automatic citizenship to her 4 weeks after she arrives. Unfortunately, I believe she will be getting a IR-4 Visa which means we need to do an official re-adopt, apply for state issued birth certificate, apply for naturalization and citizenship and only then will she be a US citizen.













BREAKING NEWS

Mr. D has accepted a job from a large multi-national corporation and will be relocating our family to Bangalore, India.Here is the supposed best of Bangalore but we haven't arrived yet so the best is yet to come.
We move in July. That is, if all of the above is finalized between March and July. In the meantime, Mr.D will be working here and there, flying to and fro and in general "Taking Care of Business".
WE have a safety net. The Hatches. Who live here and have offered their home to me and Sanbate if we get held up by the powers that be. So.

This adventure continues.

Martin Luther King


We baked a cake,
We blew it out
Happy Birthday Martin Luther King, we shout
"I had a dream." he said,
People hand in hand,
Working and singing throughout the land.

My mentor and boss from the day care days in Chicago just sent this to me. It was the song her daughter and I wrote when she was 4. The tune is the same from the old spiritual that goes like this:

"Went to the river.
Couldn't get across.
Got in trouble with my boss.
Hy-yo, Hy-yo, Hy-yo-o-Hy-o.

Gimme a nickle,
gimme a dime,
see my honey baby all the time.
Hy-yo, Hy-yo, Hy-yo-o-Hy-o."

Here is what is happening in Oakland for Martin Luther King Jr. day:
click on Oakland Celebrates.

From the Boston Globe:

"Mayor Thomas M. Menino, with Martin Luther King III at his side, announced this morning that the city will build a statue commemorating King's parents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King."

Here is a kitty movie I found on my Chicago/Mysore friend's blog which was actually made by among others an old co-worker of mine at The Chicago Diner. It is cool man and brought to you by Alliance for Human Action.

This morning I made myself a cup of coffee and toasted a bagel (which I rarely eat nowadays) and the smell of the everything bagel started me on a long reverie about Virginia's coffee shop in Logan Square in Chicago. My sister and I worked there and Virginia always bought the best bagels. One regular to the coffee shop was a house painter and rottweiller owner named Luke. A beautiful guy who drove a toyota land cruiser and became a close friend for a while until he moved to Alaska and I lost touch with him. He left me a gorgeous antique wing chair and the cool retro mug I was using for my coffee. My reverie was interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of a cat about to vomit. That moaning, unearthly sound. Quickly I scooped Sissy-the-pisser up, hoping to get her to mess into the sink. On the way to the sink my coffee mug, still in hand, hit the granite counter and shattered, coffee everywhere. We made it to the sink but there it was. My broken cup. My Luke reminder. and coffee everywhere.

There is a saying, "Let sleeping dogs lie".
I will add, "Let gagging cats puke".


Yesterday, I was on the phone trying to get vaccinated for yellow fever, which is required for travel in Ethiopia.

The Travel Doctor in Oakland has recently posted a note about yellow fever vaccinations:

"As of November 27,2007 , there is nationwide shortage of
yellow fever vaccine in single dose vials.
We only have the multidose vial available and we have to have 5 people who need yellow fever vaccine in the office at one time
If you need or think you need yellow fever vaccine please let us know before you make an appointment so that we can group people together. If we do not have 5 people there will be a surcharge per person based on the number of people who show up."

And they have yet to call me back about scheduling a "group shot session".
None of the other clinics that I called have called me back either.

Mr. D is in Banglore, India on business. It is very quiet here. Especially after our family in Ohio just left. No screaming girl, no torturing boy, No bellowing father, no wheedling mother. How I Miss Them So!

So I finished the photo album we are supposed to send to Sanbate. She is a little young to be understanding the pictures but... Maybe it helps the caregivers to transition the children.

The letter to the birth family will be more difficult as Sanbate's birth mom is still alive. I wonder if we will get to meet her. I hope we will. And perhaps she will allow me to take her picture. It will be so important later.


Bye Spartikus.
You held my attention
with your focused antics
and your regal cat acts.
You left us.
Now miss sister has no orange hunk
abiding therein.

Yeah I know I was ranting about stuff yesterday but I HAVE to talk about stuff today because I went out to buy some for Sanbate for her trip home. Now I know she is underweight but she is not under height so she is going to need clothing her size 12-18 months. Jayshree gave me some of Sujaya's clothing and I am so thankful as it is perfect and also mostly the right size. But don't get on my case for going into Berkeley and buying an outfit for Sanbate.

There is also more stuff we need to bring; bottles, diapers, blankees etc. which will be so exciting to pack.

When we "get the call" that says she is ready to come home we need to do several things:

Buy flights
Apply for Ethiopian Visas
Make appointment at pediatrician for 24 hours after we arrive home
Notarize any necessary documents
Finish Dear Birth Family letter
Buy donation items
Make reservations at hotel if needed
Finish travel document package
Buy last minute medication and diapers etc. for Sanbate
Traveler's checks

It isn't so much is it?

I went back to The Story of Stuff today and read more information about how the corporations are selling us this bag of *#@. I have decided to add Annie Leonard's blog onto my link site.

I am sick of this stuff.

Here is an interesting article published in Harper's by Mark Schapiro about the toxic chemicals in our stuff.

I recently got back in touch with a friend and employer who adopted a baby from
Brazil (who is now a full grown woman!!!)and she has recommended some important resources:

The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier (also visit her website)
Coming Home to Self by Nancy Verrier
Real parents, Real Children by Holly Von Gulden
Are These Kids Your's? which is about raising a child of a different race
Marcy Axness (adopting.org)

These are the books I have read so far:
The N word ( A great book for its expansive look at racism)
Transracial Adoptees Tell their stories (Very personal and very diverse)
Inside Transracial Adoption (I haven't finished it yet)
Black Baby White Hands ( A wonderful biography with perfect anecdotes of how a loving and educated family can make some BIG mistakes)

All the CUTES have been delivered and presented to their new friends;
Black and White Kitties, Terry, Twin Bunnies, Flower Fairy, Bear and shy Lizard, Bad Guy and his buddy "Sideways".


There were also a wild assortment of aprons I made for my lovely sisters, beautiful moms, neices and gracious sister-in-laws.

This is Mother Nature, not a war zone.

We have officially accepted the referral for Sanbate.
It will now be 1 1/2 to 3 months before the adoption is cleared.
When this happens we book a flight and fly out to meet our child.
All told we will be bringing home a 1 year old as her birthday is in the middle of March between Mr.D's dad's b-day and my dad's.

We can't post any beauty shots because she is protected by the orphanage until we gain custody, but believe me people are going to know she didn't spring from my angular white flesh. What a peach she is, despite the concern in her big brown eyes.

Double wammy on the gingerbread houses.
Nights of Bollywood movies including Om Shanti Om.
Home made dosas are unforgettable to taste and later
in their next reincarnation to smell.
So many drawings so little wall space.
Sibling squabbles and fart wars.

What you get when your niece comes to visit:

"Ah, Bull" International woman

We received the call in the afternoon of Wednesday, December 26th for a 9 month old girl named Sanbate. We have sent her referral off the University of Minnesota for a report and await a "good" assessment. In other words, if the doctors feel that she is "reasonably" healthy or has medical issues that are treatable we will accept. She is a stunningly beautiful baby and we hope that she will be our child.

Steady hearts.

This year I made most of my Christmas presents.
I asked my husband for one thing (boots) and one thing from my mom (clothes steamer so we could do our dry cleaning at home).

Well, after seeing this really cute short film I feel a little guilty for asking for any
STUFF.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Today we performed the Shepherd's Play. I was Mary. It was lovely.
We are next on the waiting list for referral.

The Hatches strike again!
Gingerbread house making with Hatches really puts me in the mood for Christmas despite the fact that our cats peed on the box of ornaments this morning.

" President Bush declared an emergency in Oklahoma on Tuesday, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts."

"This is a big one. We've got a massive situation here and it's probably going to be a week to 10 days before we get power on to everybody," said Ed Bettinger, a spokesman for Public Service Company of Oklahoma. "It looks like a war zone."

Excuse me?
A war zone?
I am sorry have you seen a war zone lately?

This is because the midwest was hit with a whopping ice storm and many states, especially Oklahoma have lost power.
Can I remind you that many people in the world live without electricity? That a war zone is not a place where winter is happening but when human beings are being maimed and killed and tortured.

Please folks! A little perspective!

Today is the last day of our long kriya meeting in Berkeley until after the Holidays and I just don't feel like going. I like staying home on Mondays. I don't like driving at night. Mr. D is gone into the city to meet a friend and attend a workshop. I am still making Christmas presents.

All excuses. Sometimes I buy the excuses and sometimes I don't. I wonder what I will do tonite.

The darkness closes in.

Every couple of months or so we hear a knock on the door and there are young people collecting money. The child at risk "programs" they are collecting for don't sound fabricated but there is never any literature or a phone number that verifies the organization's existence. In fact, usually what they do have, doesn't add up.

For example a young man of say age 19 came today as the trainer of young woman who shook my hand. I understood they were collecting money for children in Richmond who are at risk and also for those children's Christmas presents. They young man said he was once a youth who benefited from this program and he handed me his identification. His id was old and water stained and looked very low tech and uh...sketchy.

When I questioned his lack of literature and poorly maintained id he said he had collected 400 dollars just the other day. I confided to him that I generally didn't give money at the door but often sent money to organizations I had researched and further that his id looked like it had been swimming on numerous occasions and that didn't give me confidence in him.

As he walked down the stairs he mumbled the website of the organization but I didn't catch it.

Is one obliged to give money to avoid the ire of those at risk young people?

What does it mean when the families who obtained their immigration (I-600A) approval one month ahead of you, are at the top of the referral list?

Perhaps it means you will receive your approval in two, three or four months.
Perhaps it means that the list is real and people really do finally reach the top.
Perhaps it means we may be given the chance to adopt after all.

Or am I just playing mind games?
This wait time has become a game of Maya (illusion).

We had a little run in with the law at the beginning of this week.
No, we weren't pulled over by the cops. In California, the surveillance cameras installed at many intersections will take your picture if you are crossing an intersection at a yellow light and it turns red before you have finished crossing. This week it happened to me on Sunday after getting Dosas in San Francisco and to Mr. D while going to Satsang in Berkeley. Just another reminder that the long arm of the law has just gotten longer.

For more information on this new fascist trend in traffic regulation check out Highway Robbery, which includes this great quote,

"Traffic rules account for most of the contact by average citizens with law enforcement and the courts. Enforcement of laws which are widely perceived as unreasonable and unfair generates disrespect and even contempt toward those who make and enforce those laws."
The Appellate Department, in People vs. Goulet


The National Motorists Association agrees that Red Light Tickets do not improve road safety.

Mr.Traffic feels the same way I do.

Tonite
while driving from rehearsal
the setting sun and lights from the city
were especially vivid
I don't know
it made me feel its beauty
but sad
because you and Jonathan weren't here
to see
that on the western side
of our huge and troubled country
things are beautiful too
and shouldn't we be together?

The kids are rioting in the suburbs of Paris again and from what I can read it seems that it is a resurfacing of old wounds. Two Algerian boys were killed very recently in a motorcycle "accident" involving a police car. Two other boys were killed escaping the police in 2005 which also sparked a riot.

The last time our oppressed American brothers rebelled against the police Fred Hampton was shot to death (in his sleep) with multiple rounds by the police.

It makes me ask many questions.

FROM AMERICAN GANGSTER TO GREAT DEBATER, WHICH ONE YOU WANT?
I am pleased Denzel Washington is also doing a movie, "The Great Debaters" that can be inspiration to African Americans who are sick of being portrayed as violent or lazy in the media.

"From two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and an ensemble cast lead by Washington that includes Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker, comes "The Great Debaters." Inspired by a true story, "The Great Debaters" chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African American college in the deep south into a historically elite debate team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views." Rotten Tomatoes review

Thank You Mask Man


While my brother and sister were here we went to Amoeba Music and purchased many items. My brother and sister bought movies from our past like Planet of the Apes, Wizards and The Poseidon Adventure. I bought a Lenny Bruce DVD which included the short animated feature Thank You Mask Man written and performed by Lenny Bruce.

Thanks
for giving me
the worst pecan pie ever made.

The day my brother and sister were expected to arrive we suddenly had hours to wait as their first two flights were "rescheduled". As a gesture of forshadowing, we used that wait time to see the movie "Darjeeling Limited" which is about three brothers and their family dysfunction. Once my siblings arrived we were able to witness our own interpersonal trials.

Their trip included a hike around Muir Woods(pictured here), tour of Alcatraz,the hills of San Francisco and Haight St., Berkeley, Wildcat Canyon, an al fresco thanksgiving dinner and the worst pecan pie ever made.

Volunteers continue to clean up the remaining live birds oiled by the container ship crash but its business as usual for the tourist industry.

Patriotism: Here is what I am talking about.
Keith Olbermann on waterboarding, if you care to hear an American for whom you can be proud.

Another beautiful Waldorf Harvest (Holiday) Faire!

Happy Diwali!
Happy Birthday to my mom and sister-in-law!
Unhappy day for the birds in our neighborhood, many of whom will die. Another d**ned oil spill. Please see the article in the San Francisco Chronicle: Container Ship Oil Leak.

Oiled Wildlife Care Network is an organisation that is trying to help.

My question is, If people can't be trusted to navigate these precious waters why are they being allowed to do so?

NOTICE OF FAVORABLE DETERMINATION CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR ADVANCE PROCESSING OF ORPHAN PETITION:

IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO FURNISH PROPER CARE TO AN ORPHAN...

We are officially off hold.

Oh yeah. Finally.

We just received a notice from our agency stating that parents picking up their children in Ethiopia who are not staying at the orphanage cannot bring their children back to the hotel while the adoption is in process.

I guess some people are creating some bad press with the locals in Addis Ababa. I am so curious what went down. What did the Americans do this time?

The
Coolest
coin by far
is the Wyoming quarter.
A smooth, elegant outline of a rodeo rider.

It made us think, my Chicago comrade and I.
What would our coin look like? What would our symbol and few choice words be?

As for me my coin would contain these words:

Belongingness
Responsibility
Generosity

It would be simple like the Wyoming coin with a picture of an adult holding a child's hand overlooking a garden. At least one is a person of color.


Now onto my Rock album...

Prayer vigil for Dunbar Village

Although Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach is still Hell on earth for many African Americans, especially women and children at least some community members are trying to bring some healing to this place and there is a fund for the victims of the Dunbar Village torture.

Dunbar Village Victim's Assistance Fund
Checks can be made payable to the Dunbar Village Victim Assistance Fund-St. Ann. They can be dropped off at any Wachovia branch or mailed to: St. Ann Catholic Church, 310 N. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33401. The church’s phone number is (561) 832-3757.

CHILD.
We are still waiting. I thought for sure the I-600A would arrive by now since we were already cleared by the state of MA. And the wait time for Ethiopian infants continues to increase every month. Sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I stop and feel as though I am disappearing.

Last night we went to a sports bar/brewery pub to watch the Patriots play the Colts since we don't have cable and Mr.D is into football (a little).It seemed we were surrounded by Colts fans and when the Colts jumped ahead toward the end of the game we were deafened by the cheers. Unfortunately for them their joy was short-lived. The Patriots pulled ahead during the last few minutes and won the game.

When we arrived home I insisted on watching the Marx brothers movie, The Cocoanuts because there are auditions for this show at the Contra Costa Civic Theater and I wanted to see if there are any good parts.

I am totally taken by Harpo, who I think was an absolute genius, (not to take away from the brilliance of Groucho or Chico). But how many actors (Not MIMES) can communicate intensity without speech? I really dislike the three stooges but not because I don't like physical humor. I appreciate the art of physical comedy (Peter Sellers, Charlie Chaplin etc.) but I don't enjoy cruelty or stupidity (3 Stooges). The Marx brothers aren't dumb or even out of touch. I am. For just having discovered them.

Mr. D discovered last week that in San Francisco if you find yourself involved in a fender bender you DO NOT CALL THE POLICE! They do not have the funding to attend to fender benders unless someone is injured and needs an ambulance. My theory is that there are so many minor traffic accidents (because of the lawlessness of the California driver) the police could not possibly staff the reporting. I have not been a fan of intersection cameras in the past (having fallen victim in Canada during our honeymoon) but in California I believe it is necessary. Who is at fault when both parties claim innocence? Mr. D needed a photographic record or witness to vouch for the recklessness of the driver passing him (on the left)in an intersection as Mr.D was turning left.

The driver who met fenders with Mr. D was a US Postal Worker speeding to keep up with the demands of the job, (or Netflix).

California,
CALIFORNIA! (sung by Joni Mitchell)

Today I drove to El Sobrante to work on crafts for the Waldorf Harvest fair.
I made lanterns from old paintings. I handed over some sweaters that had been felted in the washing machine and turned into vests. I made 10 blossom fairies. And gnomes. Other people were making jewelry or labeling items for the fair.

Ha ha! I stole this picture from my chicago comrade's blog!

Halloween
When you were young:
Dusk approaches.
There is a chill in the air
and you are becoming someone or something else.
A witch with a green store bought mask three years in a row (ages 7,8 and 9)
A hobo with a sac on a stick (I didn't even know what hobo meant, age 10)
One of the members of the band Kiss (lots of black and white make up age 11)
A detective (overcoat for hiding eggs and such age 12).

And then each progressing year it became more and more
"What your parents don't want you to turn into".

Favorite Halloween:
Milwalkee ave. Chicago (age 27 Puss-in-boots)loft party.
Mr. Cates is talking to a man in a chicken mask. The man in the mask is from France but he did not learn english and speaks in small sentences. Mr. Cates does not know it but the masked chicken man is his brother, just flown in from Scotland for a surprise. Those of us who do know are painfully giddy. We are good friends with Mr. Cates and his brother. I am doubled over laughing until my stomach aches, tears streaming. It is unbearably funny.

(Skip forward 15 years)
Halloween
A middle aged woman, tasteful head-scarf, real jewelry, cardigan sweater and off-white pants.
Its dark.
You are sitting in your parked car under the BART tracks waiting...
to pick up your husband returning from a late meeting in the city.
Scary.

DAY

You woke up today
on your birthday
but it wasn't a day
you wanted

You wanted a day
that woke you up
with bright sunshine
not overcast and dreaded
like today

the well empty
running out of friends
who can help you
enter back into a life
of usefulness

But you are still sleeping
love!
You are a shaft of golden light
imbued with cosmic mysteries
and earthly blessings.

And Very Necessary.

Happy Birthday love
Wake Up!

Sunsets. And saying goodbye.



Why am I such a sap? Every time I say goodbye to a friend or family member (I like) I always get that, "No! Don't go!" feeling. I am sure it has to do with my "issues".
Anyway, it was hard dropping my longtime friend off at the airport and coming home to her empty bedroom.

Can someone show me how to use our camera? I would like to be able to take pictures of the full moon and other night time glow things.

Another torturous night of loud rock music in San Francisco,(earplugs not included), this time at The Independent to see Meshell Ndegeocello. Our friend Chris Bruce, recently extricated from Seal's "band", is now touring with Ms. N.and it was his playing (magnificent) that made the evening possible. Ms. N sings about the things I thought about when I was in college, i.e. sex and lies.

The next morning Mr. D and I woke with non alcohol related hangovers. To make things better Chris and I went for breakfast at a french soul restaurant, Brenda's. They served the best grits and biscuits I have ever eaten.

In the afternoon I drove to Oakland to pick up another long-time comrade from Chicago, who is here now among us.

Big Star (Not at Fillmore) singing "Why don't you come back from way out west..."

Good question.

The Fillmore on Geary Street in San Francisco is known for its psychodelic posters and its intimate rock shows. On October 20th Alex Chilton's Big Star played to a civilized crowd.

We sat in the balcony and I enjoyed the show, as it brought back fond memories for me of the Metro in Chicago and all of the wonderful rock and power pop I imbibed. Mr. D used makeshift earplugs and plastered on his most tolerant face.

Last week at the East Bay Waldorf School was very exciting,(and exhausting). I followed around the Handwork teacher and assisted in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. It was extremely hard not being the "I" in the class and I am glad for the experience. Although I hope my after class comments to the handwork teacher aren't offensive. As a class teacher one forms a pretty clear boundary line, while subject classes need to be a little less disciplined. It is also very hard conducting a "traveling show" instead of having the classes come to the teacher. Handwork is especially hard to carry around.



Last night while we ate quesadillas on the back porch there was a dear little hummingbird keeping us company. I tried to catch her in flight but only caught part of her.


Yesterday I finished a dreadfully written fantasy story, INKHEART. I do not recommend it even if it is being made into a major motion picture. The characters are poorly written and the descriptive passages are weak and repetitive.

Example:

Meggie sees her mother after 9 years and stares
(end of page 444) "as if nothing else in the world existed".


Meggie's father finds a photo of his wife and realizes she is alive and it seemed
(page 491)"as if nothing else in the world existed".

The use of quotes at the beginning of each chapter from classic books like Huck Finn or the Tolkien trilogy does not make this book more credible. It makes it more desperate for credibility.

Why did I read the entire book if I disliked it so? Because I have a plot driven nature and needed to see it through to the end.

It is Monday and I am off to the East Bay Waldorf School to help the handwork teacher make lanterns with the school. The Lantern walk is coming up soon and I am ever so curious to see what kind of lanterns we will be making. Something like this?

I have forgotten how to use the windshield wiper. It has not rained for 4 months, (since we moved) and when it finally started raining this week I was like a new driver. This lever does what?



I also have forgotten how to knit, (see the beginning of my first sock here)and was reminded this morning at The East Bay Waldorf School where I will be volunteering as an assistant to the handwork teacher (who is married to Spencer Hatch). I am glad to be back with "my people".

On Tuesday we were fingerprinted and now we are waiting for our approval and I-600A orphan petition document from California's immigration office.

My Vashon Island friend just informed me that someone received a fine for boating dangerously close to 2 Orcas off the coast of San Juan island. This is good news for Orca friends because this kind of behavior happens daily and goes unpunished. An earlier blog of mine stated that Orcas are negatively affected by the multitudes of boaters in their habitat and that they can't hear each other over the din of the boats. See article for more details.

Last Night Bad guy dropped by...

Like MAGIC the morning glory blossom appeared this morning. I hope she has many brothers and sisters as I have been checking every morning for a month to see if they would flower.

Another weekend full of sunshine, marital conflict, and music.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a weekend festival for which you will want to arrive early. We showed up at noon when the event was in full swing and could not find a seat anywhere near the (star)stage in which Los Lobos was playing. We sat next to a couple of New Englanders, one a montessori teacher and behind a couple with lots of friends/family with young kids. The music was excellent; John Prine, Keller Williams, Bela Fleck and my favorite Los Lobos. Lots of cowboy hats and characters including a blue fairy. There was even a dog that looked like my Ima.

I am feeling a little misty right now having finished the 6th HPotter so if anyone wants to call and console me I am here.

We received our (hopefully) last fingerprinting appointment with California's immigration department for our orphan petition (I-600A) next week. After we are fingerprinted and approved we will be taken off hold and ready to roll.

This weekend is the FREE Hardly, Strictly Bluegrass concert in San Francisco.
Click on the schedule to see evidence of the awesome lineup. The picture here is of Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings from another year at this same festival.

We have figs.
In our yard.
And they are strange.
They don't taste like the figs you buy at the store.
They are sweet.
Too sweet?
The birds don't think so.
I picked some
and stuffed them with blue/cream cheese.
And topped them with pecans.
Sounds good huh?
Fresh from the great out of doors,
straight to our table
and directly to the garbage bin.

ew.

Well, I have been obsessing again. This time about an outfit (shown left)I have been sewing. Sewing yes. I am not really an abstract-minded person so sewing tends to be a real challenge. I can't really "see" things spacially so these projects are good for me as they make me feel like I am a true idiot. The pattern for the pants was extremely simple. However that may be I still needed to rip out every step of the pattern and redo. The dress was more complicated and the collar was a complete disaster. Using unused fabric I fashioned a cover up collar to hide the construction site. I also had to redesign the sleeves because they made me look like I was sprouting little wings. I may be a complete git but damn I can make do with utter cr*p. This must be my mechanical side. I imagine myself as an astronaut in space with duct tape having the time of my life.

Also had to read HPotter book 4 and 5. This took a few days.

Because you need to know I haven't lost my sense of humor I give you this story brought to me by my favorite wise-acre mom Mimi Smartypants.

Ok so now I have got the you tube thing down I can post some short films. A lot of debate has come out of the Jena 6 story and the bloggers that most speak my mine are What About our Daughters and Sandra Rose, both of whom have been given grief and harassed by some of their male African American colleagues (bloggers).

Here is another good one for the sisters.

Dunbar Village
Please watch. And tune into whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com
for the latest on what the media and our leaders don't want to discuss.

I have been reading a lot of news and editorials regarding what is happening between our brothers and sisters in the name of racial inequities and I have been alerted to my own lack of awareness on many of the issues, (Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, Dunbar Village). Help these boys lord please!

Some people are saying it is a matter of educating the African American youth and helping to fund higher security for housing projects.

Some are saying that it is a case of African American Man against African American Woman or AAWoman against AAMan, (Gina McCauley writes about this extensively in her blog : whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com)

Some say that we as a nation are still enslaving people, (see the US judicial system and the media ON THAT ONE).

I say it is an ecomomic i.e. material war that is underlying ALL the battles in our country. The mainstream focus in our country has been on the value of material wealth and the system that continues the oppression of those that do not have economic wealth. Our acceptance of the capitalistic one-party system has led us down this road to a no party system, where you vote for those that take bribes from corporations or your candidate loses.

Materialistic thinking has spread to the (supposed) spiritual communities as well. When a minister needs millions of dollars to guide his devotees we need to ask questions. But how could we as human beings be aware of God's plan? and further What is the effectiveness in supporting the notion of "A chosen People"?

As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living has stated, the solution lies with this:

Socialize business (Companies empowering communities)
Spiritualize government (Leaders with an ethical foundation in humanity)
and
Secularize Religion (No Religion dominates over any other)

"When attention is given to the spiritual aspect of one's life it
brings
responsibility, a sense of belonging, and compassion and caring for the
whole of humanity. Spirit upholds and sustains life. It makes you
strong
and solid. It breaks down the narrow boundaries of cast, creed,
religion,
and nationality, and gives you an awareness of life present everywhere.
It
is only through this awareness, this uplifting of consciousness, that
wars
can be eliminated and human rights restored in the world today."
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

They Cut Down the Tree on the Jena High School Campus

An estimated 20,000 people will head to Jena, Louisiana, this week to protest for the
JENA 6. Below is one report from The Nation.

The rally in Jena, Louisiana is planned for September 20, the date on which Mychal Bell had been scheduled to be sentenced for attempted second-degree battery. The 17-year-old high school football star, who a year ago was being eyed as a top prospect for Division I scholarships, has been in jail since December for answering a classmate's racial taunts with a punch in the face. But on Friday, pre-empting a public outcry against the impending sentence of up to fifteen years, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals responded to an emergency writ filed by Bell's counsel and vacated his conviction.

The rally is going ahead as planned, but it's not immediately clear how its message has changed to reflect the court's ruling. Although the occasion will now be a sort of victory rally, the case is far from resolved. Bell remains in jail, and the prosecutor, District Attorney Reed Walters, has stated his intention to press on with an endgame of appeals. Plus, the other five black students who were involved in the fight--Robert Bailey Jr., Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Jesse Beard--are still awaiting trial on similar charges. None of their cases will be directly affected by Friday's ruling, which addressed the jurisdictional problem of trying Bell, a juvenile at the time of the fight, as an adult. (Beard is being prosecuted as a juvenile; the other four of the so-called Jena Six were 17, the age of majority in Louisiana.)

"This is a moment to show that people are in it for the long haul," says James Rucker, executive director of Color of Change. One of the first activists to enter the fray, Rucker is coordinating bus trips to Jena--a rural town of 3,000 mostly white residents--and encouraging members who can't make it to organize locally. His web-savvy organization has collected more than $130,000 for the Jena Six Defense Fund and more than 212,000 signatures for a petition demanding that Walters drop all charges and asking Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to intervene. "If this kind of pressure weren't there," he says, "the process would be going much slower, and it would be more of a crapshoot as far as the results are concerned."

Louisiana NAACP president Ernest Johnson, who is helping to organize Thursday's march in conjunction with a coalition of civil rights groups--including Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH, Al Sharpton's National Action Network and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference--says he has received more calls since Friday's ruling than in the days leading up to it. As news about the case spreads, he explains, the scope of the campaign is broadening. "I think people are coming to show strength and unity against these types of injustices," he says. "They're coming to send a message to other Jenas throughout the country. To the Jena in New York
, the Jena in Washington, in California--there are a lot of Jenas out there."

Rich with symbolism and iconic images, the case of the Jena Six certainly makes for a compelling parable of racial injustice in America. And as more and more people identify with the story, its meaning becomes more and more personal. Given the number of Americans who feel they have a stake in this case, it's no wonder that presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have issued statements expressing their concern.

The story, rehearsed by now in newspapers around the globe, begins at an assembly last fall, when a black freshman asked if he was allowed to sit under a large tree on school grounds that he had heard was "whites-only." He was given permission, but the next day three nooses were found swinging from its branches. The principal tracked down the offenders, three boys from the rodeo team, and recommended expulsion. But superintendent Roy Breithaupt opted for a three-day in-school suspension. "Adolescents play pranks," he told the Chicago Tribune. "I don't think it was a threat against anybody."

Racial tensions continued to escalate throughout the fall. A group of black students organized a sit-in under the tree to protest the white students' light punishment. Fights broke out in school and at parties; a white man waved his gun in a confrontation with black students at a convenience store; and on November 30 one of the school buildings was suspiciously set ablaze. Then, on December 4, Bell slugged Justin Barker, a white student who had been taunting him with racial slurs and defending the noose-hangers, and the other members of the Jena Six joined in. During the skirmish, Barker smacked his head on the pavement and suffered a concussion. He was treated at the local hospital and released a few hours later, and was in good enough shape to head out and socialize that evening.

District Attorney Walters, who had earlier that fall threatened black students at school that he could "take away your lives with a stroke of my pen," pushed for maximum charges. The Jena Six were expelled, arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy--their shoes were described as potentially lethal weapons. Bell, the first to face trial, saw his murder charges reduced to aggravated second-degree battery. No attempt was made by his public defender to contest the racial makeup of the jury pool, nor did he call any witnesses during the trial. Bell was convicted by an all-white jury in June.

"There are several issues in this case," says Bob Noel, one of five attorneys who signed on as Bell's new counsel after the trial. "One of the biggest is disproportionate treatment. People may think of a similarly situated kid, maybe middle-class, maybe white, and they think, Oh, let's give him another chance. When he's poor and black, it's not necessarily the case. Another is funding for indigent defense: If there's no money to adequately pay lawyers, to have support staff for them and resources they can use, they're always at a major disadvantage. And the other is the issue of race in America."

Throughout the summer, as the media glare intensified and a muscular team of attorneys assembled on the side of the defendants, Judge J.P. Mauffray and Walters dug in their heels. James Rucker, who sat in on some of Bell's motion hearings during the appeal, was shocked to see the LaSalle Parish brand of justice at work. "You'd watch this judge grill the defense attorney. It felt like he was trying to trick him," Rucker says. "And then he would set up the DA, so that all he had to do was say yes to a question. It was like they were a team."

In the first two weeks of September, however, Mauffray began to show some signs of concession; he threw out the conspiracy charge against Bell and reduced the charges against Shaw, Jones and Bailey to attempted second-degree battery. But he held firm on Bell's conviction until last Friday, when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against him. How Mauffray and Walters will adjudicate the remaining cases in light of last week's decision, and the intense scrutiny that this week's protests will bring, remains to be seen. Many voices, most prominently Al Sharpton, are calling for an investigation of prosecutorial misconduct.

Yesterday was a lazy blogsurfing day. I discovered some amazing sites. One was an extremely thought-provoking satiric site that just made me happy due to the dialogue, (a lot of it angry)to which it was opened. Everyone seems to react to it differently and that is the magic of it!

BLACK PEOPLE LOVE US

Hi folks! Ready for another review? Well this one really took something out of me because this book was pretty intense for someone about to adopt transracially, or is it triracially? I am getting so confused. I used to read these kinds of books in my twenties and got a lot of fire from their heat. I am older now and have a more mellow perspective on the world.

I like that this book “Outsiders Within” is available and has received some good press. But I think that there are some moments when the book doesn't really serve those for whom it speaks. It is ok that bell hooks (quoted in Chapter 10 Shopping for Children in the International Marketplace ) tells us “white people” that we are adopting internationally because we are looking to spice up our bland sterile lives. She has every right to her opinion but what she does when she makes this kind of statement is judge in the same way that people who are marginalized are judged, that is, without a thought to them as multi-layered human beings doing the best they can.

I can't imagine anyone being foolish enough to go through the agony of international adoption and the demands of multiculturalism because they had a craving for something “exotic”.Perhaps there are people like this who want “trophy” children but I have never met them. As a woman of European American heritage married to a Gujurati Indian, I have a lot of “flavor” in my life already. Our reasons for adopting from Ethiopia are very personal and complex. We are and will always be happy to share our feelings about it with family and friends when they ask. But some of the statements made by the authors in this book indict parents when it is faulty governmental policies and a lack of research that needs to be held accountable.

Why is it so hard to adopt?
Why is reproductive therapy so anti-woman?
Who is making money from the sorrows of the impoverished mother and the woman who cannot be a mother?
Why do some still cling to the idea that all "white" (I really hate this term) people want to harm people of color?
How can someone born into priviledge help to change the system without joining with those that are born into poverty?

This book doesn't answer these questions exactly but it does something more important. Over and over again it states something obvious and crucial. Children who are transracially adopted need to be “seen” in ways that biologically born children do not. In the book “Black baby white hands- A view from the Crib” Jaiya John tells us how he and his brother, the first African American children adopted into a “white” family in New Mexico, were not SEEN. The colorblindness of their (loving but ill informed)family and friends made the subject of their race taboo and created a crisis within them as to their identity.

This is something that was not made clear to those adopting internationally/transracially by the agencies representing them in the years the authors of these books were raised. Things have improved, that is, thanks to books like these, research and the lessons learned by adopting families. Their tales are stones that lead us out of the woods and help us to "See" our children and our children to see themselves in others.

I have a response to bell hooks for her statements regarding my ilk.

When did we start shopping for a child?
I guess this was after we decided against cloning ourselves at the Reproductive laboratory.

Why did we decide to adopt transracially?
Well, it all began when the Hindu male proposed to me and I thought to myself, “How exotic! What a great opportunity to experience domestic servitude like in India here in my own home!”
I accepted of course, and then after the test tube baby debacle we decided it would be best to adopt domestically. But I began to have strange visions of our white son saying something to my husband like, “Listen Darky, shine my cricket shoes or else!” in a British accent no less.

Why Ethiopia?
We've always watched the Boston Marathon. Religiously! And frankly, we want a winner.

That boy sure knows how to stroll!

Last Sunday we walked to the Solano Stroll, a street fair in Albany that has been ongoing for many years. It kicked Oakland's street fair, Art and Soul, into last weeks scrambled eggs and was FREE. The crowd was more diverse, and well everything was more diverse. Yes, there were more rich people there but money makes the world go around and as long as everyone comes we should be glad.

I was glad to be there with Mr. D and he got his falafel and baklavah so he was happy too. Every few blocks there were bands like the one in the video.

I am told East bay Californians like to schedule their fairs for early fall because the weather is warm and sunny. Last Sunday was certainly that.

HAPPY YEAR 2000 ETHIOPIA!

Today September 11, 2007 marks the Ethiopian Millenium or Year 2000. I discovered an amazing site for photos of Ethiopians in their homeland and in America. The photos are protected so I cannot paste them here but for a peek click on Ethiopia pictures.