Beautiful Music for a World Class Event!

I don't care what you call...sentimental or whatever!...I like it!

Only 4 countries left competing in the 2010 World Cup-Uruguay, Netherlands, Germany and Spain. No US! No African teams! No Mexico! Aaaahhhhh! Oh well...good action all around anyway!

Check out the quarter final matches.

Intense game between Paraguay and Spain with Spain coming out on top.

Germany and Argentina?!! Is Germany really that good or does Argentina just need to go home and practice...maybe find a new goalie? I'm not sure since I saw only the highlights, but whoa!

Ghana and Uruguay-what can I say but INCREDIBLE GOALS AND SAVES all around! I'm not sure why Uruguay advanced...maybe due to the number of fouls for Ghana??

Netherlands and Brazil...well Netherlands hit the target and Brazil didn't...it's that simple.

Next games to be played are on July 6th and 7th.

A Work in Progress

Overlooking the north side of Albuquerque July 4, 2010

July the 4th

All across our land there are communities organizing celebrations of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and yet we in modern day America are quite removed from all the events that took place in history to shape this nation.

We know little of the audacity it took to envision a land separate from monarchical rule. We know little of the brutality it took to annihilate and enslave people faced with foreign occupation and foreign ways to make room for more and more immigrants from foreign lands and to build and sustain a solid economical structure for this new country. We know little of the blood that was shed for years after the Revolutionary War right here in our own country in the name of freedom, liberty and justice.

Liberty and justice for all?? Yes...thinking back to July 4, 1776...it was the beginning of many things. On July 4th each year I enter into sober reflection over the meaning of liberty and justice for all.

When one attempts to go back to that date in history through one's imagination...there is a sense of excitement and glorious beginnings, but some are aware that so much more was taking place and would take place beneath the surface of such ideology.

All the people from Africa and various island communities brought and kept against their will to our land for the purpose of slavery were not given freedom until over 100 years after the signing of this document. And it would be over 200 years after the signing of the declaration before any true sense of equality or justice, with day-to-day practical application, was given to most African Americans in our country. Liberty and justice for all??

The declaration of equality and justice for all was not offered to the Native peoples in this country who were tricked and overpowered in order to surrender their lands and lives, as our founding fathers settled new towns and communities and forged into the West out of a desire for power and wealth. Liberty and justice for all??

Removed to some extent...and yet, as modern day voters and citizens, and we are very much a part of what takes place today, and will take place tomorrow and in the future, that impacts what this country is all about...a country that promises liberty and justice for all.

Today Mexican immigrants, without the proper legal documentation to live and work in the United States, face similar fates as states, county sheriffs, and certain communities determine to eradicate them through deportation. We'll travel half way across the world to attempt to provide liberty and justice for people in a foreign land (Iraq and Afghanistan) where we consider the rulers to be tyrannical, and yet, in our own land, we refuse to come up with a solution that offers dignity and respect to a people who have for over a century literally broken their backs and given their lives to put vegetables in stores, to clean our motel rooms and work spaces, and care for our young children, among many other difficult jobs. These undocumented immigrants do this in search of this dream of liberty and justice for all, knowing that they are often used and abused at the hands of tyrannical corporations right here in the United States of America. Liberty and justice for all?

All this reflection could lead anyone who is truly willing to look at the reality of liberty and justice for all in our country to a great sense of cynicism.

So it gave me needed perspective to hear this radio interview from Weekend America: A Native American Take on Independence.

Albuquerque fireworks 2010

Fourth of July

Independence Day,

we show our pride.

We show our pride with fireworks.

Fireworks represent,

bombs bursting in air;

burst in air in war

war for freedom.

Freedom from sacrifice,

sacrifice of blood,

young blood spilt,

paid the cost.

Price paid in blood,

blood spent,

liberty for you,

a man gave his life.

Life lost for love,

love of country,

land of free,

paid by the brave.

Sparks in air for fun

reminder of men,

brave lives gone.

Patriot loss,

patriot pride.

by

Roger Hancock

September 20, 2001

I encourage you to experience the music and vision of BRUHLE AND AIRO...they are fascinating and offer a fitting message to what this day...July 4th symbolizes...that in the midst of devastation, division, and yes...even deception...there can be those who stand up for truth and will work towards re-creation and reconciliation. Yes...we...the people of the United States of American, and of the world, are certainly a work in progress.

I dedicate this post to my brother, Neal...who has such a deep and enduring passion to spread a message of life transforming liberty to everyone with whom he comes in contact. Much love to you my brother!

Why Albuquerque, New Mexico?

IT'S COOLER HERE IN ALBUQUERQUE. That is TOP on my list.

Now I have only been here (off and on) for two months and so far in May and June, I've experienced 70-high 90s in the middle part of the day and 50-high 60s/maybe low 70s in the night and morning. It started raining this week and I haven't noticed much humidity. Considering that I only have a evap cooler as my central air, I'm hoping the humidity and temps for the remainder of the summer stay just where they are. One 14-year resident of Albuquerque informed me that June is typically the hottest month of the year. Hmmm...sounds good to me! I just hope I didn't bring any of the hot Phoenix summer air along with me.

The information below is from Uniquely Albuquerque, a convention and tourist's bureau website.

UNIQUELY ALBUQUERQUE: Albuquerque is renowned for having the best year roundweather in the USA.

Summers are warm and dry with the average daytime highs around 90°F/32°C and nighttime temperatures cooling down to44°F/7°C are common, but the low humidity means shade provides ample relief from the heat.

Autumn in Albuquerque is often called "Indian Summer" because of warm temperatures early in the season around 70°F/21°C. Summer still lingers in September and early October, with "sweater" weather setting in during November.

Winter requires heavier outdoor clothing; however, sweatshirts or light jackets may be enough on those famousAlbuquerque sunny days. It will snow on occasion, but it seldom lasts more than a day or two. Instead, snow remains in the nearby Sandia Mountains where it creates a skier's delight. Sports enthusiasts can often ski in the morning and play golf or tennis that same afternoon.

Spring begins Albuquerque's warming trend with buds and blossoms decorating the city in April and May. The Rio Grande weather enhances your afternoon hikes or morning walks along the banks. In just a matter of weeks, the bare limbs of cottonwood trees lining the banks of the Rio Grande billow with waves of green, preparing themselves for the rising waters of snowmelt from the Northern New Mexico mountains.

A downtown mural of the Alvarado Hotel around Central and 2nd St.

Information found on Wikipedia about the Alvarado Hotel: The Mission Revival-style ATC was designed to be reminiscent of the Alvarado Hotel, a railroad hotel which was formerly located on the site. The ATC also features a clock tower, located on the northwest corner of the complex, facing the intersection of Central Avenue and First Street. The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in DowntownAlbuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's previous bus depot and train station. The ATC serves ABQRide, Amtrak, Greyhound Lines, and the New Mexico Rail Runner Expresscommuter rail line.

Actually I was drawn here because of the wall art...it is everywhere. It made me think that they are open-minded here and enjoy having artists around. I had to come and see for myself.

There are mountains for hiking...actually lots of places for exercising whether it's walking, biking, or hiking. Of course, these forms of exercise are my favorites.

It's a smaller city, but not small enough really. But I need to live where there are jobs, at least for another 20 years or so, by then I imagine the country will be looking like my kind of destination.

Albuquerque Daily Photo shows the diversity of wall art here. Even with the tons of pictures I've already taken, I have yet to see most of these murals in person. It's incredible! Very talented people living here.

A downtown mural

I found the following information about this mural at RoadTrip America.

FRUTOS DE LA EXPRESION
designed by Claire Bain
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Contributed by Gerald Thurman of Tempe, Arizona

This mural was completed in 2000 under the auspices of Working Classrooms, Inc. and honors the first, fifteenth and nineteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It was painted by: Claire Bain, Gary Sena, Lauren Kostelnick, Antonio Lente, Elizabeth Lopez, Luis Mayorga, Branden Toledo, and Michael Herrod. The mural is located in downtown Albuquerque at the SE corner of 2nd NW Street and Central.

Moving to New Mexico

Durango Juvenile Detention Facility 2010

GOODBYE DURANGO...ten + years of memories.

I am so thankful for all the opportunities I had to work with so many talented young people in a variety of capacities. And I had the pleasure to work with such a diverse group of co-workers...good times Durango family! I'm thinking of you...and just want to say, "Stay safe! Stay sane! Your skills and abilities are abundant-may they be used!"

My last home in Arizona...Yvonne's garden oasis in Glendale-

home of the delicious Cerreta's Fine Chocolates!

GOODBYE PHOENIX, ARIZONA...my home for twenty years.

Over those twenty years I met and spent lots of time with so many interesting people-children and adults. And Phoenix will always hold a special place in my heart...particularly because it is the birthplace of Laura, my (birth)daughter and my mom's favorite place to be. But the HEAT...ahhh the HEAT!! I just did not want to survive another summer in the desert heat! Arizona is such a beautiful state and I know I will go back often, not only to visit family and friends, but also to visit the breathtaking scenery.

And so...here I am (67 days into my transitional phase)

in Albuquerque, New Mexico

...about 7 hours from Phoenix and only 4.5 hours from Show Low =).

Just taking it all in and finally getting to a place

where my head and equilibrium has stopped spinning from all the changes.

Albuquerque is a mountain community

with the diversity of an urban setting.

I enjoy the artsy mountain culture here,

the weather (daytime-90s and nighttime 60-70s) in the summer,

and the landscape celebration.

So many places to hike, walk, explore and just "be" in the outdoors.

An overlook at the surrounding area from the Sandia Peaks

which are situated on the east side of Albuquerque...my new home.

What a bunch of snollygosters!

"I say...what have we here? a possible clue?

Could it be the hair of a blue snollygoster or a red snollygoster?!?

I'm not sure how I'll tell the difference really..they all look the same to me!! How will we know who's to blame for this dastardly crime?

Hmph...I guess we'll just have to wait for a clearer perspective...it's bound to show up in a decade or so!

I've been listening to the news quite a bit the last few days, but today...ya today I heard A REAL KICKER in the news!! Here's an "I bet you didn't know"!!

So what's behind Arizona's budgetary problems?? Well...for investigative sleuths out there trying to figure out how Arizona got itself in this HUGE mess...here's another piece of the puzzle... Here and Now talked to Goldwater Institute investigative reporter Mark Flatten about a tax loophole that costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year. You can either listen to the broadcast or read the article. Hearing this was eye opening and mind blowing for me!

Maybe it's just me...but after what happened in the housing market to send the financial market into such a tailspin for the middle class, well I continue to shake my head at the continuous unveiling of "special favors" given to the "wealthy and powerful" in this country. If this is happening here...I can only imagine how widespread this type of practice is across the country.

Honestly it seems never ending...the rich just continue to get richer...NOBODY IS STANDING IN THEIR WAY! In fact they've still got the red carpet. When it's the wealthy who work as our legislators, why wouldn't they pass out favors to like-minded people of the same class. I'm sorry folks, but I don't think it really matters whether a politician is a republican or a democrat. What they do in their legislative processes is rarely to benefit the common man-the middle class/working class. None of them (truly I don't believe a single one of them) is innocent and free of corruption...in some sense. It is just so irritating to hear politicians from both parties speak such negativity along party lines. It all seems so hypocritical to me. And though I wonder "how this can keep happening?" ...deep down I know why it keeps happening!

It takes alot of time and effort to hold politicians accountable and it is often difficult to get the truth...the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It takes lots of digging, persistence, open mindedness, perspective, etc. to get the big picture of what is going on. For everyday people, it may seem impossible to arrive at an educated, informed, "got all the facts" viewpoint. We are exposed to so much propaganda and media spin. I mean I'm one of them (the middle class, I guess) and I'm busy and overwhelmed...maybe pretty much uninformed (about what's going on behind the scenes with government, laws and all that) much of the time. With the ongoing disclosure of corruption in government and big business/corporations being given special favors at the expense of the everyday person working hard to stay on top of mounting expenses, it is tempting to become complacent and cynical.

I try to use common sense, but there is no way you are going to get me to believe this is about good vs evil within our two party system. One's just as corrupt as the other. So what people tend to do is listen to political party rhetoric, pick sides and sling mud. All while the truth of what's going on is watered down and/or covered up. Come on folks! It didn't just arrive with Obama's administration!

This being an election year and all...well mud slinging will be a favorite past time for some and things are bound to get really messy. With so much mud flying, who can even clear the air and get down to the business at hand. Who's willing to forfeit party loyalty to simply "do what is right" for the constituents. There seems to be a whole bunch of people who are suddenly so concerned about "what the government is up to". A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson seems fitting:

Who you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying.

It is irritating that people and politicians (including President Obama, sadly) are so caught up in the mudslinging against a particular party when their party affiliation houses various forms of corruption themselves. What hypocrisy!

But what can we do? As I need to support myself by working a job and then attending to the things I need to do, and attempt to find some time for the things I like to do...who's got time for politics? Well, unfortunately that is what the politicians are "banking $$$ on"...really who's got time to hold them accountable consistently and fairly. Well it's surely not the average tax payer!

I'm amazed by movements in the past, and even people, today, that are informed and active in attempting to impact our political process and change laws. It is an overwhelming process to me. Props to all who are able to stay well-rounded and informed...not just listening to the nay-sayers or just one political party or the other, but truly seeking out the truth and working to impact legislation for everyday people. I'm not sure how you do it. Maybe sometime in the future I'll figure out how to take on a more active role.

To those that truly are well-rounded and informed, not only about what is going on with specific issues and bills, but about the political process, MAD PROPS TO YOU PEOPLE! You have your work cut out for you!

This post reminds me of a bit from a tribute poem I wrote in 2008 titled

"Hope Found"

...That what Beat writers have to say is sometimes shocking, reflects

a view of society struggling beneath a weight

of confusing messages of worshiping wealth and expressing hate

through computerized violence. The rich and the famous pampering pets,

while returning from war as heroes, Iraq war vets,

who deserve efficient, top-notch medical and psychiatric care

are left instead to face the realities of Vet hospitals in disrepair....

(to be continued...next post)

Life is a balancing act

life is a balancing act

and to keep from crashing

fatally to the ground

we must practice often

falling, bruised we sit up

broken we rise

and eventually step

out again...

to live.

-tkaeu

Phillipe Petit...courageous, crazy, amazing moments...watching him balance in extremes...

i remember the first time i heard of him...his story was part of the history of New York City dvd collection i watched through Netflix a few years ago...hearing his passionate connection to this time and space event and watching him "perform" on the wire, between the twin towers, myself, for the first time, i cried...

and was inspired...the visuals of him on the wire between the twin towers sent shivers down my spine...

and when the visual reminders of his historical escapade, the world trade center towers, were destroyed, obliterating the lives of so many...i can sense just a tiny bit of the shocking loss that followed...such an unexpected turn of events...relationships torn into bits and pieces literally (it is noteworthy to me that it was twenty-seven years between the triumphant tight wire walk between the towers and the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001)...the irony of life.

and then the movie Man on a Wire came out...with all the details-the good and the bad of Phillipe Petit and what led up to the event on August 7, 1974...he is far from perfect as a man, but his courage, tenacity and creative, wacky genius lifts me....and actually reversed a domino effect that turned the WTC from financial disaster to financial pillars...his is one of the great life stories.

It is amazing what occurs when we act upon our passions with grace and even, I guess, a sense of humility...how our actions can so powerfully impact the lives of others when we are in our element or using our talents, passions to their fullest extent.

Though sometimes the impact seems swallowed up in ashes and we wonder "was there ever really any purpose after all" or "what was the point of it all"...I guess some of what we do is for future generations alone to appreciate, understand and articulate.

thinking of human frailty, connectedness, humility, and brokenness, as i am today...it is good to be reminded of stories such as Phillipe Petit. Thank-you Phillipe Petit. You are one of my heroes!

Rocks as storytellers

rocks piled

high or low

images styled

part of a whole

history, praise

stories unfold

passing days

stories told

-tkaeu

(pic to the right - an inuksuk built by Peter Irnig - unsure of photographer-maybe Peter Irnig-photo on Flicker and wikipedia posted by Boliyou)

Tracy Niemeyer, of Maple Ridge, British Columbis, calls the urge to stack rocks "spiritual".

When I heard this comment on an NPR news story, my mind instantly began to think of all the stories of "rock stacking" I had read in the Bible. Time and time again Jewish ancestors were stacking rocks as a memorial or testament in obedience to God for various events.

These are only a few examples of what seems like countless stories of stacking of rocks I've read in the Bible...

Genesis 8...Noah builds an altar following the flood

Genesis 12...Abraham marks the beginning of the Israelite journey with the building of three altars

Exodus 17...Moses builds an altar to declare "The Lord is my Banner"

Joshua 4...twelve stones stacked by the twelve tribes of Israel after crossing the Jordan River

Joshua 7...pile of stones from Achan's stoning marking the Valley of Trouble

Hmmm...it's funny how my mind works...lol! Now back to the original point of this news coverage...

Attentive fans of the Winter Olympics may have noticed that the official logo of the 2010 Games is a pile of rocks. It's a stylized version of an "inukshuk", the stone cairns built by the Inuit people of the Canadian Artic.

The logo is everywhere in Vancouver, paired with the Olympic rings, and it's inspiring imitators. On the rocky shore of False Creek, near the Olympic Village, dozens of impromptu inukshuks have croppped up, built by passersby. Tracy Niemeyer, of Maple Ridge, British Columbis, calls the urge to stack rocks "spiritual".

************************************************************

This NPR story goes on to speak of one man's perspective on the 2010 Olympic symbol and a bit of the historic purpose of inuksuks. Peter Irnig, an Inuit cultural teacher, explains that Inuksuks are used for navigation purposes or markers for hunting and food caches. Inuksuks are built as one column. The 2010 Olympic symbol (supposedly built in honor of the Inuit culture) has at its base two columns and is therefore a Inunnguaq, not an Inuksuk. In the NPR coverage, Irnig states that "people rarely stack rocks resembling humans, as it is a symbol that someone committed suicide or a murder took place at the spot.

Well in a way, this symbol of the Inunnguaq, though controversial, may be oddly appropriate. Consider, sadly, the loss of Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili, who "was killed by the Whistler during his training run" just hours before the February 12th, 2010 Olympic opening ceremonies.

The Inunnguaq-a symbol of human death and suffering as the symbol for the 2010 Winter Olympics?? There is also this perspective (simply my opinion)-what of the emphasis on "how many medals each country amasses" during the games, as opposed to an interest in and emphasis on the skill and sacrifice of the each of the athletes who compete, regardless of winning a medal or not? The heavy emphasis on "medals won" during the Olympic games, in particular, drives me crazy each time the games air. Maybe the Inunnguaq is a symbol of the sacrificial death of the human spirit to the god of competition...hmmm...something to consider.

***********************************************

Back to my first point...regardless of the underlying and controversial nature surrounding the 2010 Olympic games symbol...I still find myself amazed at how these "coincidences" (stacking rocks mentioned as something spiritual) occur across cultural and historical divides...events/traditions from different cultures crisscrossing over vast spans of time pulling up similar responses from "us humans"...no matter how different or competitive we attempt to be.

Stacking rocks...telling stories to be recalled for generations...

this post dedicated to Nodar Kumaritashvili