Malicious truths

I walk free you say
yet every day I see my sisters fall
see your hands around their necks
the shadows of fingers left behind
and you deny my vision
you deny us thrice
a thousand times
yet when the cock crows you are not ashamed

Heteronormative

This week has been so reaffirming to my LGBTQQ Ally identitiy

yesterday I went to a three hour training session

now there is a magnet on my door

and now today I found this in the archives of the "instantdaily", a very popular, funny but on occasion offcolor anonymous commentary article in my school newspaper

"The words "I love Lisa" are written on a bathroom stall in the women's bathroom in the library. Either this Lisa thinks very highly of herself, or some guy was really, really lost."

http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7438/instant-daily-1.1054608

Seriously? does it get more heteronormative than that?

I mean, really

and how much do you want to bet that most people did not notice?

this way we are so trained, so....

every time it is assumed that women can't be in love with each other, or men

this ridiculous way of life we are brainwashed for

by fear, by hatred, by ignorance

Firefly

Hello
I have been at camp for a couple of weeks now, my second group of children just left and there are more coming in just over an hour!
it has been pretty insane
anyways, here I have taken the camp name firefly
of course, this is at least partially after the fantastic scifi show
something I have had trouble with is getting everyone to call me that, in an effort to not confuse my children
also, it can get very confusing for myself and my co-counselor when we also have a camper named Erin
there was one in both groups of kids
anyways, there has been time for little but camp and sleep
sooo, later

Lost and...

I am now at camp, pre-camp is like job training...except you live there in the woods and everyone is a young woman and a bunch of them are british
basically
anyways
outside of the gloriously wifi-enabled staff house I saw a sign
lost and found
this is far too optimistic a title
"lost and forgotten"
seems more appropriate
realism, this is what I bring to the table
on another note
I am basically channeling Buffy
yesterday I stabbed a tick with a thumbtack
and today I have squished at least six mosquitoes
just saying

an old friend

I am becoming reaquainted with an old friend
marathoning random tv series to avoid life
whether it be problems with friends or family or work
also known as my high school life
or now, the fact that every time I'm home I'm packing
nothing takes my mind off of it like television
specifically, arrested development
this time
house, scrubs, torchwood
psych, bones, criminal minds
it goes on and on
the only way out
is coming soon
when I am busy
leaving for camp tomorrow
and constant exposure to friends and commitment
is my antidote
my methadone 

oh hello there

yeah so i have been back from Ghana for about half a week, but only a day or so back home
so, excuses!
this summer is exceptionally busy, and I have not been having blog inspiration while within reach of my laptop
apologies
in 24 hours I have to be repacked for a week(or is it two?) for camp training, so yeah not a lot of downtime
but I will think of something by tomorrow night
:)

Why Hello There

So I have been mysteriously silent as of late, I'm sure it is not mysterious to my few subscribers but I have been in Ghana for almost a month now, flying out this Friday. I have a lot written in my other blog, Not a Safari, and I have basically been updating that instead of this. I have been pretty busy with outreaches and such, and have had limited or no internet capability since I have arrived.

a monkey at the monkey sanctuary

a hibiscus flower from a bush at the royal hotel, where we stayed for outreach with Northwestern

the stage where we had money thrown at us, the cultural center in Kumasi

a butterfly I freed using Cal's hat at Kate Memorial Hotel

waterfall, obviously

A tree at outreach where I did visual acuity outside because I forgot my survey

 

It has been a lot of fun so far, totally insane and incredibly interesting.  Given the choice I would probably not stay as long as I have, and I am really excited to go home. It can be immensely satisfying and rewarding to work at outreach, but sometimes the alien environment, these people I don't really know and, even the trees are so very different; I am sometimes overwhelmed by homesickness and a longing to be back amongst friends and family.

ancient

ancient wisdom, tales of old
the facination with antiquity, with what has endured
the question is our perspective
we do not judge them on the terms of the present
for the ancient is above the everyday
it has endured, it lives on
the ancient is what we seek
beyond life, to be ancient
to be remembered

The Reality

Birthdays always remind me
of all the times that I hew a huge discrepancy between
imagination and reality
events that are supposed to change you
rarely do

alright I have to clarify that this is talking about birthdays, graduations, events that are socially implied and represent a transformation that in fact takes place over a great deal of time but is expected to be condensed into a specific celebratory day. Some events do change a person, typically these are traumatic, and while that is also important it is not actually what I am talking about at the moment.
but i digress, to an extent

and what is expected
was in fact already achieved in the expectations and the decisions
on a birthday
one does not feel different than the day before, for every day age increases equally, but instead they feel older and far different than the year before or five, ten years ago, I do not feel older from two days ago but I do feel older than a year or even a few months ago.
metamorphosis is a process

Journal

I used to write in my journal all the time
it is full of secrets
but now
all but the darkest are lit
it is funny
it is lovely
such a comprehensive support system
it is somthing that
I never anticipated having
and I love you for it