calle de colorines

This is "Calle Colorines"(or Colours Street) I drew it thinking of Italy and the more I worked on it , it became Spain. I love Spain, and here is a pretty colourful version of it. Some coastal areas may look like this, but most of it is not as bright. I guess I was in a cheerful mood. The two pictures just below are the best because they are actually scanned and not just taken on my phone...but the picture is too big to fit onto the scanner...so I broke it in half. The original is both of these together, such as up top or there is another down below.

art...gotta do it.

Last night I had a dream about India, it may be because I am going to India Palace restaurant tonight and am very EXCITED. Anyway, just thought I would post these...why not? I drew the pink one about a year ago, and then inverted the colours and got the blue one. I actually think I like the blue one better, maybe it is because I am not a huge pink fan, or because I have looked at the other way more. hope you enjoy.

veggie/vegan and/or cookbook/recipes

All you veggie lovers out there. Just wondering you would want to share your fave veggie/vegan cookbooks and/or recipes? I have subscribed to almost a million veggie food blogs, which is really nice, but I was just wondering if you guys...the ones of you who even eat veggies will share some of your favourites with me and the blogosphere. You can do so by just a comment, or you could just comment me and put the post on your blog. It seems it would be easiest to do the second, but I have no preference.

Also, do you have products (meatless type) that you consume on a regular basis and are super pumped about?? Share those too. Are there any supa-cool things that your kids really like? Are there any really good ones a your meat-lover guest? I am going to write and share mine soon....because sharing is so very good for everyone, yah??

we'd rather be wearing nice jeans.

Lately I have been really thinking about identity. where do I find it? where do you? we had a friend over the other night and we were talking about how our generation finds it's identity in different places than our parent's generation. According to Brad who is studying this type of thing right now, "our parents and their parents found their identity in their jobs, our generation would rather spend less time at their work, make less and come home with more time to do things that they love to do".
We would rather have the time than the money is what studies say. We would rather do more of what we love and sacrifice by not making as much as we possibly could...or do we make some from our jobs and borrow a lot more from creditors than our parents would have???

I do wonder where we find our identity. I know that our parents did not get it right by finding it in who they became professionally...and I think we are just as far off, if not further. We are not classified by what we do at work, we are identified by what we spend our time off doing. We can go to concerts, be rock climbers, cyclists, I would argue that our generation has become a first glance generation. A microwave generation, a generation that is not willing to be patient and wait for something. This will sound mean, but I think many have given up on the issues of character, not willing to work on issues that people wouldn't see until the second or third date. We spend to much to look good and and not just look good but do it as if our lives depended on it. The deepness and the selflessness, honesty, and the value of our word is dwindling, the character that will make you stick through it all, is so far removed from who we are today...let's just say it straight: we'd rather be wearing nice jeans.


I know posts such as these do not get comments, so I am expecting none...but go for it, give your two cents...if you have not already spent them.

snaps to be had

Here are some films that I have been lazy about getting to on here: I rate them out of 5 snaps Let me know if you agree about the ratings....maybe I missed something important.

Pan's Labyrinth
Incredible. This film takes you to a secret place, yet it is unpredictable and truly beautiful to watch. I enjoyed it even more since it is in Spanish...but I would recommend this to anyone, NOT for kids though as it has dark beings and happens during wartime. If you were ever wondering about this one, watch it. I give it a full 5 snaps.


Because I Said So
A complete chick-flick...but a good one. This is interesting and deeper than some, but only a tiny bit. I liked this one...but it is what it is, nothing to make you think about the quality of life.
2 snaps.
Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima
I debated weather to rate these together or separate...so I'll do both. I didn't enjoy either, but I wasn't supposed to, and you won't either. This is a whole different type of film, the type we can't change...that type is history. Although they are both intense, full of gore, death and complete surrender to battle I guess I was glad I watched them. I was glad I watched both of them as well. Together they paint a picture that just one could not paint. I love the heroic deeds demonstrated on both sides, and the film shows that both sides contain boys, boys do miss home, but will die for what they are fighting for. Let's say 4 snaps for these two combined and individually. (I will comment thought that the Letters from Iwo Jima is much harder to watch as the men completely know they are going to loose...but they put up the best fight they can)

Casino Royale
What a Bond this man is. This Bond was a little less offensive to women...but not much. We are still complete objects, but we are shown to have some merit. I seriously love the main actress in this film, and that made it more interesting...but still a Bond. 3 snaps.
Dreamgirls
To be completely honest...i didn't like this one that much. I wasn't really moved by the singing or the acting or really the story. I know this one got good reviews, so sorry...but only 2.5 snaps from me.
The Devil Wears Prada
I deeply enjoyed this one. Seriously I liked it. It isn't super deep, but at the same time not ultra-superficial. Better than a chick-flick. The film makes some good points. 4 snaps.

The Astronaut Farmer
This was actually pretty impressive. A good lazy night film, no severe intrigue, not super intense...just good for a regular old after-work film. Good stuff.2.5 snaps.





License to Wed
Well, we watched this because it has the guy from the office in it, but it is not actually terrible. It is definitely not one to watch in a theater and pay huge amounts to see...but few are. It is a good no-thinking flick. (oh, and look to see more office actors in this film, you will find some more...keep an eye out!) 2 snaps.
La Vie En Rose
A dark film on an French international jewel. I was amazed by this one many times. If you make it through the beginning which is very dark(and that means bad!), it comes to a place where you can understand why they took you there. This singer as wonderful a singer as she is has had a very devastating life. I enjoyed it. The music is incredible, her voice like nothing I've ever heard before. 4 snaps.


Sweet Land
One of the best films I have seen. This one is sweet and deep and interesting. I enjoyed every second of this one and when it was over I was wishing it wasn't. It reminded me in some ways of Babbette's Feast .This was an amazing film. I give it a full 5 snaps.


The Last King of Scotland
I can't say I enjoyed this one, but that is not the point of such a film. It is intense and after that more intense. It is hard to like the main actors very much because one is a coward and the other one a dictator. However I think it was a film well worth watching. Make sure you are in a mood that will withstand severe torment (such as Hotel Rwanda). I give this one 4 snaps.


Shooter
Well worth an evening, this one is a suspense/action flick. I really liked it. It was interesting and well thought out. It did give that typical action vibe, but it was definitely better than many others. I give it 3 snaps.




Georgia Rule
I tried with this one...but did not make it through it. Not good at all...boring and just pretty silly. That is my opinion yo. No snaps for this one.




Noel
This one was a good holiday film, which are in a different category than regular movies. They are allowed to be sentimental and a little corny. This one is not too much of that, but it does throw you off many times when you assume that it is going to be the typical predictable holiday film. It is a strong 3 snaps.

Michael Moore Hates America
This was a good film, and just goes to show how much really can be altered in the media in order to prove a point, weather it be factual or completely made up. I did like this film, but it seemed a little one dimensional and a movie about another movie type of thing. It is good to watch especially if you like or really do not like Michael Moore and his antics.
I give this one 3 snaps.


Amazing Grace
Which I thought was really well made and interesting and good. There were many deep factors in this film that I thought worthwhile. The depictions of slavery and whether God had called someone to act against it...it was just good. I recommend it.
I would give it 4.5 snaps.

honesty & truth (*cont.) from "What do you write for?"

After Andrew's comment on my previous blog(what do you write for?)..and his latest blog on multiple things including blogging. I have decided what my issues are. This is my response to it all:
I will continue to blog...the reason I posted the questions was mostly to get my feelings settled as to why this is important. I too have people who read that are not in the area and who enjoy reading what is happening here...i just want to be sure that what i write is always honest- never pretentious.

Is pretentious the right word?....What I mean is to never be on paper someone that I am not really in person. I value honesty with utmost importance and when I seem to be the most honest sometimes it seems to cause a distance from people when they realize they do not think the same, or they unite and agree and do think the same way and then we can be "buddies". I guess what I am trying to get at is that through someone's deepest writing and yours you can see the differences that are not spoken in public...as in religion, politics and whatever else we "shouldn't" talk about. I enjoy these differences and I know others do too...but sometimes I feel like I don't want to put it all out there, since it is very easy alienate, and also to misinterpret what someone actually stands for from a few lines on their blog.

Many times it seems in our blogs we can be our perfect selves, loving all that we like and hating what we don't. I am not criticizing anyone, so if you feel like I was implying YOU than forget that!...just really want people to think about it. How do you make your blog portray you? It is your own creation, your own world...you are the overseer and complete author of it all. right?

Does that make sense to anyone but me?? What do you think?

who do you write for?

Do you blog because you want to share your opinions and have others comment on them? Or is it because you just like to write and see your words and pictures on the computer screen? Do you write what you want others to read, or do you write what you want and allow them to read it? Do you write what you think they will like to read, or about what you enjoy writing about? Do you worry about who will read your blog and sift through things that maybe would offend, or do you enjoy causing offense because it provokes thought and a re-thinking of things? why?

Do you write for others, or yourself? Do you write for comments? Do you write for clicks or hits or technorati faves? Why? What makes you sit down and write? Do you write for appearances? Do you write to look intelligent, or all-knowing or content with life, or un-happy and always questioning? Do you think that when you write everyone should agree? Do you have a hard time if they don't and wonder why you wrote in the first place?

I would say that at times, depending on what I feel I need from others, or what I absolutely don't want from them...I have written for these reasons(including the negative ones that I don't like to admit to). Definitely not only for these reasons...but I have written more for them than I would like...because I would like to not feel pressure in anyway to conform. And what do I mean by conforming? Conforming:( for me) is to be or appear to be anything different than what is completely true to yourself and what you believe most important.

our friends becky and jonah...

These are the pictures from the night when we (the Lang's and us) went to India Palace and also when I infamously got hackled at Wyatt's. Meet our friends the Langs:

Seriously, ain't they cute!!!!!

blessings, thanks, and family

This is what we did on our day of giving thanks: We got together and did give thanks. We gave thanks for many reasons. One of the biggest was that this year Ross was safe and with us and his family. We are so thankful for way too much to mention here....we are way, overly, beyond blessed. God is GOOD.

Hotel Turkey by b

I wrote this when I was in college at Oregon State University. It was in OSU's Prism, the Literary Arts Magazine, spring 2002 issue. I think that was my last year there, and the first time I ever dared to turn any of my writing in for others to scrutinize and read over.
Since it is TURKEY-TIME this Wednesday, just wanted to share this on my blog. I traveled a ton with my parents growing up (all across the US and in Spain and Costa Rica), it mostly was fun, kind of difficult, but just different than anyone else I knew. I loved and hated it at the same time. I longed for a life that was like the "other kids'"...but I know better now. I am so THANKFUL for what I was given. It was perfect. I thank you mom and dad!!!!


re-heated microwave turkey
the smile of maids at the door
paper tablecloths printed brightly
with hotel insignias

don't worry there's swimming
after you eat
treadmill if you wish
television with too much cable

sterilized showers
immaculate tile
this is our non-smoking room
I wonder who slept here last night

I am thankful for a place to sleep
I am thankful for the food we eat
I am thankful for this place

clean towels daily
Gideon Bible provided
temp. set to match your needs
can we help you with those bags?

these card-keys are fun
put your backpack here
nope that's in the way
move your books, please?

make new acquaintances today
different shallow friends tomorrow
I know the capital of Wyoming
my cat lives with my grandma

I am thankful for my parents
I am thankful for my friends
I am thankful for this place

small town folk seem to stare
yes, I bought this in the city
I am not from here- yes, I know
don't worry, I will be gone tomorrow

please let me sleep
or I'm grumpy in the morning
I love the solitude of the bathroom
sorry, I took so long

oh, look out the window
what a view
today ocean
yesterday desert
tomorrow can I pick?

I am thankful for my brother
I am thankful for this day
I am thankful for this place

please speak up
I have an earache from the car
I am sorry we have to go
here is my address
write me sometime

where is home?
this seems to work
if you eat your continental breakfast now
if you leave before noon

we won!!!! A mis 95 años / 95 years old blogger

Today looking through my regular blogs I saw that something very sweet and surprising happened. Spain's own Maria Amelia, a 95 year old woman won the "Best of the Blogs" for best Spanish blog!! Her blog is: A mis 95 años / 95 years old blogger . She refers to her readers as "nietos" or grandchildren, and thanks her fellow bloggers for their votes saying this is," your prize, and I offer it to you because it is yours. Because you were who cheered me on". It is a blog in Spanish, but it has an automatic translator link so that you can read what she has to say in many different languages, along the sidebar of her blog you'll see that newspapers such as: The Herald Tribune (USA) , The Hindu (India), The Age (Australia), and Boston Globe (USA) and that is only a few, and radio stations from tons of countries have picked up this story and she is proud to share that victory with her nieto readers. You can even find her on YouTube!!!



I can't help but feel completely in awe of this woman, she has conquered the ties of age, moved across oceans and found a family. Many things out there are sad, conquered, and just not getting any better, this woman at her tender age is out to prove the world wrong. I am supa-dupa excited that a SPANIARD won...and even more that she is an unlikely hero. From living in Spain, I know that many women her age did not even learn to read when they were young, my parents still have some women in their church that are around 70 years old and do not know how to read(because of dictatorships and different standards/priorities for women). I have been looking for the heroes that had been taken from me lately, and very glad to have found a true one again. Heroes are not perfect, they do not always do right, but they overcome, they move forward and they blog so that their nietos can read what the world was like. YAY for The World's Oldest Blogger!

he's at it again

Brad is studying again, and I just finished a good book and do not want to start another yet. What should I do? Since he has been in graduate school up in PDX I have A LOT of time on my hands in the evenings after the little boys go to bed. It is nice, but can get pretty boring. There is only so much blogging, reading, guitar learning one can do to keep themselves occupied. I have done well so far, but just wanted you all to know...that is why I have so much time to comment on blogs, read blogs, write blogs and start book clubs. It is all fun and stuff that I like to do, I just would not do nearly so much of it all if he were here all the time.

Brad goes to U of O's School of Journalism up in Portland (earning a Masters in Strategic Communication), so he drives up there(1. 5 hours) twice a week for two three hour classes, then drives back(1.5 hours again). This is after a full day at work.He leaves for work around 7 am and gets home about 11pm, then gets up again in the AM and goes to work. It is hard working full-time and going to graduate school so far away...he is a STUD! God will bless this season, but we need to keep our eyes focused to make it through. God is good.
He only works two days this week and does not have school!!! oh HALLELUJAH, amen. HAPPIEST THANKSGIVING TO US ALL !!

my gypsy blood- always embrace, never forget

Every several months I begin to miss part of my heart, which is found somewhere in Spain. Every couple months I feel like half of me is not where I am. I know that my life is full, and complete, but my youth, my memories of growing up will never be from here...they are always from over there. If you have not gone through this it is hard, but really not that hard at the same time...therefore it causes you to not really do anything about it, and so it goes on...year after year, every several months.
I have grown up now, and traveled back to Spain
with my American family I have changed, and Spain has changed too. My memories have passed, and when I went back I was hoping they would still be living somewhere there for me to find them. They were not. They are not. We all have memories from growing up, but when we are cut from them and move on- it is hard to understand fully how and why they are not continuous. They are faded and embellished in your mind, and so pretty inaccurate. The memories I have of Spain that I think about are gone, they are old, they are in pictures and thoughts that I can share with those who lived them with me. But I have grown up and no longer live there, even though part of me still
lives in the memory of my Spanish youth.
Even though it is not much to bear, it is a longing for something that is not possible. Every once in a while I will dream we move our family over there and Brad works for some company in Spain. This dream is pretty while I sleep, and at first when I am waking up...but it gets more sour as I sit there, because it is me wanting to live in the place of my youth when both the place and my youth have changed and no longer exist in that same form. I could go back and make new memories, but then I'd have fragments everywhere. I could stay and remember the fragments I've left in different places and not want to do so anymore...but then how would I live, for that is who I am. I am a fragment of different nations, of different peoples, of different languages and passions and ideas, I am a formation of all these into one- and without one of them I would then, truly be a fragment and not a whole. I have gypsy blood in me, it is always moving, always embracing and always a little tiny bit sad because of the places it has left and the people it will never forget.

PS- it hasn't helped that I subscribed to a feed from flickr in which I get all the pictures uploaded that are tagged "Spain" it is amazing...I get hundreds every day. Look at the Photos from everyone tagged spain