Seeing as how Martin Luther King, Jr. is listed as one of my heroes, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my favorite words of his. This is part of a letter he wrote while incarcerated in Birmingham Jail in 1963.
" I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, Wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading white and colored; when your first name becomes nigger, your middle name becomes boy (however old you are) and your last name becomes John, and your wife and mother are never given the respected title Mrs.; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of nobodiness; then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday, December 17, 2007
Ugly Xmas Sweaters
I was invited this weekend to attend a classmates' Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I had no idea what a hot item Ugly Xmas Sweaters are! Saturday, a group of friends and I hit up the thrift stores in search of a knit top with reindeer, nutcrackers, bells, or whatever decoration would make our sweater tacky and unattractive. We went to my favorite thrift store, The Garment District, where they sell clothes for a buck a pound. The clothes are thrown into a large heap on the floor. In order to find what you are looking for, you have to walk on top of the huge pile, and dig. It's amazing, seriously. After digging through mounds of clothes, I finally decided to ask the clerk if he had seen any ugly Christmas sweaters come through. He proceeded to tell me that they actually SAVE all of the Christmas sweaters throughout the year, and when they finally bring them out to sell, they're gone really fast. 
Who knew?? In the end, we managed to borrow some sweaters from a friend of a friend, and I settled with a red turtleneck with a large button up green sweater with black leggings. It was pretty hideous, even without the tacky decorations. Here we are!
Who knew?? In the end, we managed to borrow some sweaters from a friend of a friend, and I settled with a red turtleneck with a large button up green sweater with black leggings. It was pretty hideous, even without the tacky decorations. Here we are!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Winter Wonderland
Boston was hit with a snow storm today! It started at around noon and continued snowing ALL day. I just took this picture of my back patio so you could see the amount of snow that fell. This is the forecast for the weekend: 2-4 more inches tonight. Warming up tomorrow (snow turns to slush) then the temp drops again Saturday and another snow storm hits that night. Freezing rain on Sunday. Oh boy, I just love the freezing rain. Well, I hope I get off of work Monday! I know, I know, what is this sunshine loving girl doing in New England? I have to say, it hasn't been that bad yet. But come March, I may be changing my mind!
Friday, December 7, 2007
A Tara Moment
If you've known me very long, you know what a Tara moment is. Here's a good one that happened today:
So I had a lot of errands to get done - I had to print a paper at the library, mail my netflix movie, and return my library books, before doing some other school related things. As I was walking out the front door I realized I forgot my netflix movie, and decided to do it later as I was in a hurry. I had my library books under my arm, and I was on my way. I walked past the blue mail deposit box on the corner, and remembered I had to mail something. I dropped my books in and continued towards the library. When I was almost to the library, I looked down at my hands and realized my books were gone. I was about to turn around and go search for them, when I suddenly remembered dropping them into the mail deposit box near my apartment. As soon as I remembered this I busted up laughing, right in the middle of the street. I must have looked really psychotic, giggling to myself as I walked to the library. Seriously, I don't know where my mind is sometimes! Does anyone know how to get items returned that were mistakenly dropped in the mail box??
So I had a lot of errands to get done - I had to print a paper at the library, mail my netflix movie, and return my library books, before doing some other school related things. As I was walking out the front door I realized I forgot my netflix movie, and decided to do it later as I was in a hurry. I had my library books under my arm, and I was on my way. I walked past the blue mail deposit box on the corner, and remembered I had to mail something. I dropped my books in and continued towards the library. When I was almost to the library, I looked down at my hands and realized my books were gone. I was about to turn around and go search for them, when I suddenly remembered dropping them into the mail deposit box near my apartment. As soon as I remembered this I busted up laughing, right in the middle of the street. I must have looked really psychotic, giggling to myself as I walked to the library. Seriously, I don't know where my mind is sometimes! Does anyone know how to get items returned that were mistakenly dropped in the mail box??
Catching Up...
Okay, so a LOT has happened since my last post on October 20, so bear with me if this post gets a bit long! Let's see, where to start...
One of my favorite things about Boston is that it is in a prime location for a traveler like myself. Buses and trains will take me all over the east coast for a very reasonable price, and airline tickets to other major cities are very affordable as well. And not to mention that there is so much exploring to be done within the city itself! In early November, a few friends and I took a road trip to Philadelphia to visit our classmate, Jill, on her birthday. (My classmates are all over the US, in Canada, and Thailand doing internships right now) I have to say, I wasn't thrilled with the city, in fact, the crime rate is so high there that is was nicknamed 'kill-a-delphia' - ick. But we managed to have a great time touring the city and staying up late catching up with one other.
For Thanksgiving, I was invited home with another classmate, Carey (who is placed in Boston). Her family lives in Portland, Maine so I took a bus to her hometown and was greeted by her welcoming parents. Carey and I helped her mom prepare an enormous dinner and even made a pie all by ourselves! It was a very different Thanksgiving experience than any I'd had before, as all of the dinner guests were adult friends of Carey's parents. She is an only child and there was not a single kid at the house. Now, I'm used to packing 20-30 people into one house for a more informal, and sometimes chaotic, event. And there are ALWAYS children around, I guess I just assumed that this was the case for everyone. So at dinner, we all had place settings, and the turkey was brought in on a platter to display to the guests before carving it at the table, just like they do on tv. We had real cranberries (its an east coast thing), and the mashed potatoes were served in small proportions (um, yeah, I'm from Idaho). After binge eating and intaking more carbs than I needed in a year, I hopped back on the bus and headed home to Boston. And the next day...
I got on a plane to Washington, D.C.! My good friends Ken and Maranda purchased a ticket for me to come visit for the weekend. We had a great time sight seeing and catching up on the past few years of our lives. And most importantly, I got to meet their adorable two year old, Keiran! We hit it off from the start. This kid has the most advanced language skills for being a two-year-old. But being the child of two such intelligent people, I'm not really that surprised. He even knows how to say a few phrases in Spanish (he's a big fan of Dora and Diego). Immediately after boarding the plane to go back home, I was having Keiran-withdrawals. I've been searching the internet ever since for good deals so I can visit again after the holidays!
And, an update on my internship... things are definitely getting better. I had a rough time adjusting to the change when I lost my original placement. And well, therapy is so much harder than I expected. I think one of the hardest parts for me is sitting with really heavy emotion for an hour, and then going on with my day. It weighs on me sometimes. Also, the therapeutic relationship is extremely intense. And therapy requires the use of self in the process. Having intense, direct, confrontational conversations is not a strength of mine - you can ask my family! And I know this is good for me to be able to practice these skills, but growth is painful, and some days I just want to quit. I am aware that I am going to love doing therapy after I have some years of experience behind me. In the meantime, I'll keep being real and direct with my clients, as uncomfortable as it is, and hope for the day when it begins to feel natural. At least I'm practiced up on my empathy, cause that is what gets me through!
Oh, by the way, I'll post pictures soon of all of my recent excursions!
One of my favorite things about Boston is that it is in a prime location for a traveler like myself. Buses and trains will take me all over the east coast for a very reasonable price, and airline tickets to other major cities are very affordable as well. And not to mention that there is so much exploring to be done within the city itself! In early November, a few friends and I took a road trip to Philadelphia to visit our classmate, Jill, on her birthday. (My classmates are all over the US, in Canada, and Thailand doing internships right now) I have to say, I wasn't thrilled with the city, in fact, the crime rate is so high there that is was nicknamed 'kill-a-delphia' - ick. But we managed to have a great time touring the city and staying up late catching up with one other.
For Thanksgiving, I was invited home with another classmate, Carey (who is placed in Boston). Her family lives in Portland, Maine so I took a bus to her hometown and was greeted by her welcoming parents. Carey and I helped her mom prepare an enormous dinner and even made a pie all by ourselves! It was a very different Thanksgiving experience than any I'd had before, as all of the dinner guests were adult friends of Carey's parents. She is an only child and there was not a single kid at the house. Now, I'm used to packing 20-30 people into one house for a more informal, and sometimes chaotic, event. And there are ALWAYS children around, I guess I just assumed that this was the case for everyone. So at dinner, we all had place settings, and the turkey was brought in on a platter to display to the guests before carving it at the table, just like they do on tv. We had real cranberries (its an east coast thing), and the mashed potatoes were served in small proportions (um, yeah, I'm from Idaho). After binge eating and intaking more carbs than I needed in a year, I hopped back on the bus and headed home to Boston. And the next day...
I got on a plane to Washington, D.C.! My good friends Ken and Maranda purchased a ticket for me to come visit for the weekend. We had a great time sight seeing and catching up on the past few years of our lives. And most importantly, I got to meet their adorable two year old, Keiran! We hit it off from the start. This kid has the most advanced language skills for being a two-year-old. But being the child of two such intelligent people, I'm not really that surprised. He even knows how to say a few phrases in Spanish (he's a big fan of Dora and Diego). Immediately after boarding the plane to go back home, I was having Keiran-withdrawals. I've been searching the internet ever since for good deals so I can visit again after the holidays!
And, an update on my internship... things are definitely getting better. I had a rough time adjusting to the change when I lost my original placement. And well, therapy is so much harder than I expected. I think one of the hardest parts for me is sitting with really heavy emotion for an hour, and then going on with my day. It weighs on me sometimes. Also, the therapeutic relationship is extremely intense. And therapy requires the use of self in the process. Having intense, direct, confrontational conversations is not a strength of mine - you can ask my family! And I know this is good for me to be able to practice these skills, but growth is painful, and some days I just want to quit. I am aware that I am going to love doing therapy after I have some years of experience behind me. In the meantime, I'll keep being real and direct with my clients, as uncomfortable as it is, and hope for the day when it begins to feel natural. At least I'm practiced up on my empathy, cause that is what gets me through!
Oh, by the way, I'll post pictures soon of all of my recent excursions!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
City Girl, cont....
So remember the children I was talking about who have negligent parents? Well, one of them lives next door (the building is literally about four feet away from mine) and he started a fire in his window this week! That was a bit of a scare!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
City Girl
Most of you know already how much I love the city. I love that there is always something going on. I love that I can satisfy almost every interest I have within the city limits. I love the diversity, that being out of the 'norm' is acceptable. I love hearing people speak in different languages. I love the convenience of public transportation. I love being able to people watch from my window. I love the variety of food that I can sample.... I could go on and on...
But there are some things I definitely don't like about the city. Here are some experiences I've had lately that remind me of this:
-Apparently October is a bad month for rats in this area. The other night when my friend dropped me off in front of my apartment, I stepped out of the car right onto a big squashed rat. Yuk.
-Sometimes after finding a seat on a train, I can smell unpleasant odors from the person who sat there before me.
-There are these guys that live across the street who sing together really LOUD at about 11:00pm. Seriously?
-The kids who have negligent parents play on the street and scream all the time. All the time.
-There are always sirens. But then again I do live within blocks of 2 hospitals, a fire station, and a police station. Actually, I think that means I'm pretty safe.
-The sewer is always beneath you carrying the waste of the thousands who reside here. Sometimes you can smell wifts of it coming up through the ground. The other day when sitting at a restaurant, it was coming through the window. Talk about losing your appetite!
But as I learned this summer, one has adaptive ego functioning if they are able to hold the good with the bad. And those things I mentioned before make the whole experience worth it for me anyway...
But there are some things I definitely don't like about the city. Here are some experiences I've had lately that remind me of this:
-Apparently October is a bad month for rats in this area. The other night when my friend dropped me off in front of my apartment, I stepped out of the car right onto a big squashed rat. Yuk.
-Sometimes after finding a seat on a train, I can smell unpleasant odors from the person who sat there before me.
-There are these guys that live across the street who sing together really LOUD at about 11:00pm. Seriously?
-The kids who have negligent parents play on the street and scream all the time. All the time.
-There are always sirens. But then again I do live within blocks of 2 hospitals, a fire station, and a police station. Actually, I think that means I'm pretty safe.
-The sewer is always beneath you carrying the waste of the thousands who reside here. Sometimes you can smell wifts of it coming up through the ground. The other day when sitting at a restaurant, it was coming through the window. Talk about losing your appetite!
But as I learned this summer, one has adaptive ego functioning if they are able to hold the good with the bad. And those things I mentioned before make the whole experience worth it for me anyway...
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