Film going: To the Wonder

Last night I saw the film To the Wonder.

I am still in awe.

This film follows the love and lives of an American man, Niel, and a French woman, Marina, who meet in France and move together to a small town in Oklahoma. We catch glimpses of their lives as their love waxes and wanes through time. The film weaves through the changes they face as a couple and as individuals. Beautiful moments and troubled times. Discontent and sublime happiness. Confidence and doubt. Tied into the tale are a love story between Niel and his childhood sweetheart, Jane, and the quiet struggles of a Spanish ex-patriot priest, Father Quintanna serving his parish in this small Oklahoma town. In much the way our characters seek to find, keep and understand their love, Quintana is reaching out for faith and for Christ, whom he has seemingly lost among the all too real lives of his congregants and the seeming lack of divinity around him. Though the characters overlap and their lives intersect, the stories remain separate and individual. Each unique.

The film is raw. Emotional. Narrated, vaguely, in turn by the various characters as they move through the phases in their lives and loves. As they struggle and question and seek and yearn for that which they cannot find or cannot hold on to.

It is also beautiful. Not just emotionally, but visually as well. The scenes are simple, yet at times take on an almost fairy-tale-like quality. Whimsical and flowing. The lighting and angles are gorgeous. Stark. Brilliant. Elegant. Dreamy. It is we, the audience, are half in a dream. In fact, the entirety of the film might be described as dreamlike. Hazy. The fragments one remembers after waking up. Unfinished and even, in parts, incoherent. Yet the moments are still surprisingly potent; the emotions inexplicably strong.

I recommend it highly...but know that this will be dreamy, emotional, abstract.. and the narrative sparse and elusive. I like that I guess. It was powerful enough to make me weep. So who knows, maybe you will love it too.

small steps

I'm not much of a video game lover. In fact, rather the contrary. But I still find a great deal of joy in this:

"When Mike Mika saw the disappointment on his daughter's face when she realized Pauline wasn't a playable character in Donkey Kong, he felt a call to action. Thankfully Mika happens to be a competent developer, and after a few late-night hours spent hacking the NES version of Nintendo's classic, he accomplished the role reversal his daughter had wished for. Mario was now under Donkey Kong's control, and Pauline was tasked with rescuing the plumber in distress.

You can read the rest here.

Honestly, that is one awesome Dad! If all men cared that much about the effects of inequality (no matter how seemingly small or insignificant) on the lives of the women they love, the world would be a pretty amazing place! Seriously.

mix 'n' match

what do you get when you combine one of your favorite singers with lyrics about your favorite home town?

must be losing my mind...



i love this too



and this



and everything brett dennen sings.
i'm obsessed.

If only everything were this easy!

"If you believe that earth’s natural resources are limitless, which maybe was excusable 100 years ago but is the height of ignorance now,  or that “technology will fix it” or that we can simply go mine them in outer space with Newt Gingrich, I guess none of this worries you. But if you believe in reality, and you’d like that to be a place that your kids get to enjoy, this is a big deal."

Today I read a NYTimes article called We Could Be Heroes. Intriguing, right? Who doesn't want to be a hero? So, what's the key? Essentially, the article is about a very simple, immediate way in which we can influence the world, particularly climate change, increasing greenhouse gases, diminishing land, forests, flora (and with it the loss of and endangerment of many species), etc. Can you guess what it is? The simple, small change we can make TODAY that could make the kind of difference in the world that new technologies, research, electric cars and renewable energy sources can't begin to match (at least for the time being)?

Yep. EATING LESS (or no) MEAT.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. This is one of my pet subjects. I am always harping on about the pros of vegetarianism (which isn't actually even necessarily what the article is promoting). But it's true. Read the article.  Read what I posted here about a myriad of other reasons to make the switch (or read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Great book.). But whatever you do, please at least consider the way you are eating and the affects your daily consumption has on your life, the planet, our future and the future of our children. It's at least worth giving a little thought! Especially since I can promise from experience, eating less or no meat truly is EASY! It takes a little extra thought, especially at first, and maybe some adjustment. But today there are so many options available to us that avoiding meat is no biggie in terms of sacrifice. Yet it can have a huge influence when it comes to impact!

WICKED in London

I melted.

(Just a taste... not from the show I saw.. obviously I guess....)

I have been listening to the Wicked soundtrack since my friend Jessica gave it to me my freshman year of college. Seeing the show in person, in the front row, in London was almost unbearably amazing! I cried.

I don't think my life will ever be the same.

A dream or divinity

It was strange, but but for some reason this evening, while I was at an activity tonight with some Spanish friends, I suddenly realized that I was glowingly happy. Really. It's strange, because I didn't even realize it until I thought, Wow! Why can't I stop smiling? I just wanted to sing (which I actually did since we were practicing for our choir... which will perform on Sunday!!!) and give everyone hugs!

There are many contributing factors: I talked to my sister today. I received a beautiful card with inspirational quotes I definitely needed to read in the mail from an amazing woman who I love dearly. I had a great day with my classes (things seem to be much better this week now that they are done with their exams...). And I have been feeling extra blessed, protected and loved lately, which is rather amazing.

But mostly I think it is because this weekend I experienced this:

The pictures I took cannot even begin to capture the magnificence of La Sagrada Familia or any of the other incredible Gaudí creations I was lucky enough to experience with weekend in Barcelona. But I know that being surrounded by this incredible and truly inspired beauty touched my soul and changed my view of the world by exposing me to something so ethereal and yet so grand and magnificent. There is no way to see this inexplicable masterpiece and deny that there was something greater than man behind its creation.

I am still stunned. Just thinking about it leaves me speechless and jubilant!

Add one more to the list

I am also grateful for this beautiful work of art from a girl I knew once upon a time in college. She is an incredible woman, and I have been inspired by her since we first had a class together a few years ago. Now, she is a beautiful mother and an inspiring artist who has created this lovely tribute to a some strong, faithful, independent, and generally amazing women who inspire her. I love it!

The women in my life have always been a vital part of changing me, influencing me, inspiring me and helping me in basically every conceivable way. I am convinced that there is a power in sisterhood that we have only barely begun to tap into or understand. I love that. I love the power and influence of good women in my life! And as most of you who might read this are women, let me say, thank you, my dear sisters, for your love, your examples, your laughter and hugs and encouragement. Thank you for sharing; for talking and listening and for sometimes knowing how to sit in silence. Thank you for your patience and your advice. I love you!

Last week I found heaven

and it was the Butterfly Pavilion in the Museum of Natural History.

One of the many reasons I now love Washington, D.C.!

Be grateful I didn't post all 100+ butterfly pictures from my trip :)

A New Endeavor

It appears more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine 'gendercide' in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century.

In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world.

-Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky

Last week a few friends and I had our first book club meeting. I've never been in a book club before, but I was extremely excited to be a part of this one. Our topic of study is Women, Development and Equality. Our first book was Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It was INCREDIBLE! Truly. Kristof and WuDunn do an incredible job of bringing to light some of the most terrifying aspects of life for women across the world--from rape and honor killings, maternal mortality and fistulas, sex slavery and domestic abuse, they cover issues affecting women from every part of the world, and especially in developing countries. And yet, the book is hopeful and encouraging. Every chapter not only tells stories of women who have suffered under inequality and oppression placed upon women, but also stories of women who are standing up to these horrors and creating solutions and safe havens. There are some exceptionally inspirational women in this book. Women who should be our examples and our heroes.

But in our book club we want to do more than just read and learn about these issues. We want to find ways to become proactive in changing the status of women around the world. One of the things we all agreed on is that more people need to know what is happening to women in the world!

So, we have decided to try to share more about these important issues with those we know. It isn't always easy. Some people scoff at us as "feminists" (which we all readily claim! But unfortunately, many people we know use the term "feminist" in an inappropriate and negative connotation, thus casting our views aside as extreme or insignificant). Others recoil from hearing about such horrific and brutal realities. And at times people listen and agree that the inequality and disempowerment of women is awful, but they can't see solutions and they want go no further. What we realized is, maybe we aren't getting our message across in the right way. Maybe we haven't helped others to see that not only are these issues real and pressing, but we are all complicit. We all bear responsibility. And there are things we can do to effect change.

Now we just have to figure out how to spread that message. We have to figure out what people need to know and hear. And then we have to share it. For me, this involves continuing to read and learn--about problems and solutions. It means finding talking points and ways to include women, development and human rights issues in my day to day conversations. And it means stepping up to the responsibilities I have and finding ways to contribute.

As part of that, I will be posting weekly here on my blog about these issues in one form or another. I say that now to hold myself accountable. I hope you will nag me if I slack off. And I hope you will help me by posting your insights, questions and concerns. Because, ultimately, this effort requires all of us. As Kristof so astutely says in Half the Sky:

"[I]f the international effort is dubbed a 'women's issue,' then it has already failed. The unfortunate reality is that women's issues are marginalized, and in any case, sex trafficking and mass rape should no more be seen as women's issues than slavery was a black issue of the Holocaust was a Jewish issue. These are all humanitarian concerns, transcending any one race gender, or creed."

photo: Maria Elena, Bolivia 2009

Loveliness

I just don't think you can understand how much

I really LOVE butterflies!

The joy of my day was stumbling upon this lovely collection of butterfly photos on National Geographic! (I also really love NG- you won't find as much awesomeness anywhere else, I'm pretty much positive!)

Butterfly wings are just so utterly incredible and intriguing! They are so delicate and graceful; so breathtaking! And they are patterned in such astonishing ways! How did butterflies get so lucky? How is that their wings were endowed with such vibrant colors and intricate patterns and such an incredible iridescence? Let's face it, the loveliest humans with the clearest, most comely complexions really don't hold a candle to the glorious beauty of a butterfly! I mean, can you imagine having skin like a butterfly's wings--we would all be so exotic and lovely and vibrant! Though, perhaps a bit fragile...

all photos via National Geographic

oh oh oh

I'm kind of obsessed with this song right now.

favorites

I LOVE butterflies! I always have.

(and I think they love me too--one time i was talking to someone by the HBLL library and a butterfly just came over and landed on my hand. And once in Guatemala about a dozen of them came and landed on me while I was lying in the sun--apparently they thought the flowers on my swimsuit were real. (and also, they really love me.) it was basically the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!)

Butterflies are so delicate and graceful and beautiful and gentle. Perhaps a bit aloof, but they seem generally friendly. They are, I think, a happy insect. And they're pollinators. Since I love flowers too I am extra grateful to butterflies for their elegant usefulness!

So today I'm sharing this article about Vladimir Nabokov's theories on butterflies, which have recently been confirmed. Quite interesting! Also, as a lover of literature, I feel that i have a double connection to Nabokov.

I guess I ought to read Lolita now.

And here are some pretty butterfly pictures from the article.

And here is a Nabokov poem, “On Discovering a Butterfly":

I found it and I named it, being versed

in taxonomic Latin; thus became

godfather to an insect and its first

describer — and I want no other fame.

Have a wonderful day! It should be easy now that you're thinking about butterflies :)

Casas de carton

Yesterday my heart was broken as I watched a story of a young boy living in El Salvador during the civil war (in the 1980s). The movie "Innocent Voices" was based on the actual experiences of writer Oscar Torres and is one of the most beautiful depictions of family, childhood and war that I have seen. I was again reminded of the terrible reality of war and especially of its devastating impact on families and children, which effects linger on for generations--as we can see in El Salvador with the terrible gang violence that has taken hold in the country.

Luckily, there was more than simply a message of despair in the film. Perhaps one of the most poignant moments was when the Catholic priest, after having been brutally beaten by the El Salvadorean soldiers, held mass in the street and preached a message of love and faith to his congregation and all who could hear:

"The word of God should be heard by those who have not found grace within themselves. What is grace? Grace is the presence of the divine in every one of our actions. The skeptics say, 'If God existed, there would be no war.' And I respond, 'If humanity would obey the word of God, then there would be no war!' Because God has given humanity the privilege to live in grace, or on the contrary, to provoke disgrace. I assure you, when one lives in the grace of God, war does not exist. Nevertheless, there are those who ignore their own divine nature and they satisfy themselves by robbing, humiliating and killing their own kind..."

To me this is such a beautiful expression of our responsibility. Each of us must live according to our divine nature. We must act with grace and love and treat each other with care. If we want to be blessed with peace, we must first live peacefully. We must demonstrate in our actions the grace of God and our devotion to him, rather than to our own wants and our own prejudices and hatreds and grudges. Oh how I wish we would live that way!

This song was a song of the rebel army in the civil war in El Salvador, prohibited by the national army. It is gorgeous.



Here is the English translation:

How sad the rain sounds
On the cardboard roofs
How sadly my people live
In the cardboard houses.

The worker comes descending,
Almost dragging his feet
Under the weight of his suffering.
Look how much is the suffering!
Look how much the suffering weighs!
He leaves his pregnant wife above
The city is below,
And he loses himself in its tangle.

Today is the same as yesterday
In this world without tomorrow.

How sad, the rain is heard
On the cardboard roofs.
How sadly my people live
In the cardboard houses.

Children the color of my land
With the same scars,
Millionaires of worms, and
therefore, how sadly the children live.

How happily the dogs live
In the home of the exploiters.
You won't believe it,
But there are schools for dogs
And they give them education
So they don't bite the newsboys
But the boss
For years, so many years,
has been biting the laborer.

How sad, the rain is heard
On the cardboard roofs.
How far away, hope passes
In the cardboard houses.

From: http://lyricstranslate.com

This Christmas season, may we remember, and live, the glorious song of the angels at our Savior's birth:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."
Luke 2:14

real life.

The basics of what I've learned about International Development over the past 5 years in the words of Nicholas Kristof:

"it’s complicated."
"a noble experiment"
"entrepreneurs fail sometimes"
"good intentions and hard work aren’t enough"
"Helping people is hard."
"it will be only an incremental improvement. In the real world, that’s usually how progress arrives (with screams of vexation along the way)."

sometimes, that's kind of discouraging.

on the other hand...

Kristof also tells us that these aren't such bad things. I'm inspired by his article, "D.I.Y. Foreign Aid Revolution" and the incredible entrepreneurs he describes. Proof that all of us can play a role in development and have an influence for change in the world.

yes, the difference that one person makes is often small--"a drop in the bucket"--but each drop counts (for proof of this concept, visit the TippingBucket). not all of us will become leaders of international organizations or spend out lives building and living in orphanages or creating innovative ways to tackle the unspoken barriers women face in participating fully in society or regularly raising thousands of dollars for the most vulnerable populations in the world. some of us may not even be able to travel abroad. but we are all capable of doing something. and we are all capable of doing more than we are.

Please read Kristof's article.
Then read his blog.
Then take a cue from this inspiring family.
(and so many other sources. . . new suggestions are always welcome, by the way!)

Then see where this all takes you. What changes can you make in your daily life that will help you consume fewer precious resources? How can you adjust your spending so you avoid purchasing conflict materials or products that support unjust practices? How can you contribute (monetarily or otherwise) to causes that are truly important to you? How do you decide what those causes are? WHERE DO YOU FIT IN?

These are questions that I am trying to ask myself. Everyday. For me they're hard questions. Some of them might take me years to fully answer. Maybe even a lifetime.

But this much I know:
The world needs change--at home and abroad.
And it's up to us to make that happen.

Welcome to reality.
I hope you're ready to get on board...
because
the world needs you.

and i mean that.

lets fly away

I'm ready to go back.

Cusco, Peru
August 2008

repetition.

Here's something interesting. yet again, a message about the value of educating women-- an essential element of development for any nation. (here and here are links to what I've blogged on this issue in the past)

a few facts (i know i may be repeating myself.. but that's okay.):

educated women generally make better use of health services and have a better understanding of hygiene, nutrition and parenting.

educated women as mothers help reduce infant mortality in children under 5 (by 10% for every additional year of schooling).

educated women reduce the fertility rate by making informed decisions and using reliable practices in family planning.

educated women are less likely to contract HIV/AIDS and thus less likely to pass the disease to children

educated women receive better wages and increase productivity in their employment.

educated women promote higher levels of education for their children. . . and their children's children and so on and so forth....

the benefits just keep on coming.

however...

I think Philip Stevens, a senior fellow at International Policy Network, makes an important point when he says, "Education is not much good if the health facilities and infrastructure don’t exist. If a country is massively misgoverned, like Sierra Leone, no amount of education is going to put bread on the table for children.”

Education is essential.
Education for women is imperative.
But international development and poverty reduction require systematic change in every aspect of policy, infrastructure, governance, etc.

Yet, there is hope. and for every girl who is educated, we get a little closer to the kind of world that I want to live in!

data and quotes taken from "Educating Women Saves Children, Study Finds." Sept 16, 2010 in the New York Times.
Also see facts from the World Bank on this issue.

i want to go to africa

now.

Transformations

"If the world isn't what we want it to be, then what are we trying to conserve?"
- Martin Burt
(Executive Director, Fundacion Paraguaya)

Today I made the huge mistake of flipping down a channel from CNN to Fox where Glenn Beck was talking about some ridiculous thing (as usual) and charging his audience to beware because if they use the words social justice or economic justice "Your Churches are being used by Progressives as a tool in the fundamental transformation of America!" While this sounds like the paranoid rantings of a lunatic to me, it actually made me think...

What's wrong with transformation anyway?

I saw a statistic today that 74% of US citizens polled are dissatisfied with the direction our country is taking. As far as I can tell, that means Republicans and Democrats and just about everyone in between are pretty fed up with things these days. I think change is just what we need. So whatever your political views, I think most of us would agree, transformation is just about the best thing that could happen to our country and to the world.

Let's make it happen!

Addict-able

There is a reason I don't watch TV. . .


It has to do with the fact that I don't want to be obsessed...
and it is oh so easy to get caught up. At least for me.


Last night we watched "Glee" in my apartment. And I liked it. And the music was quite good. But then...

Today I found myself wondering what was going to happen to Rachel, and if she would figure out that this evil James kid was a lying jerk, and if she would date this other boy Finn (I think that's his name).

I was actually worried about a fictional character on TV.

I am not okay with this. I love to be enveloped by stories--that is one of the joys of reading good literature. But TV is different-

it pulls you in and then. . .
you are a slave to its time schedule
and you buy the seasons
and watch them over and over
and then your brain turns to mush!

I've seen it happen to too many people to fall for that trap!

ok. ok. that may be a slight exaggeration, but I still don't want to get sucked into the world of TV series. I escaped it after two seasons of "The Office" and I will escape "Glee" too. The truth is, I just don't have the time. There are just too many other things I want to do!

More Mason. . .

"Ballad For My One True Love"

Sleeping in a cherry tree
High above a monastery
Where the bells are ringing slow
To say farewell when hours go
And all the while I'm dreaming of
The ballad for my one true love
Searching for the perfect way to say
I love you
Sweetheart, this is my dream come true
And god bless the babies that sleep in you
God bless the babies that sleep in you

Sleeping in a motel room
Underneath a silver moon
With the windows open wide
I can hear the stars go by
And all the while I 'm dreaming of
The ballad for my one true love
Searching for the perfect way to say

I love you Sweetheart, this is my dream come true
And god bless the babies that sleep in you
God bless the babies that sleep in you



Beautiful. This song makes my soul so so joyful!