I got 40 pieces of candy!

Yes, at 21 I went out trick or treating.
I didn't get turned down once, and sang the same..
Made up song 30 times.

"Halloween, halloween, (snap snap)
 Halloween, halloween, (snap snap)
 Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen,

You think we're really old, but we're just trick or treaters like everybody else (last line sung in one breath)."

Medical Brigades

I find it extremely interesting to look at the value of health and hygiene in different countries, to see how they work the system to provide the much needed premiums, deductibles, religion, and drugs. 


In Canada, where they have universal healthcare, Canadian doctors actually come to the US because they can make more money here. 

Can you find the medical brigaders?

In France, they also have universal healthcare, but if you make a mistake you (the doctor) are fired.


In the United States, where our health care is somewhat fucked at the moment, if you (the doctor) make a mistake then you just pay a higher malpractice suit. Which in turn raises the price of everyone's premium and everything else you can think of. 


In Latin America, you have the best perhaps of all of this, you have thousands of doctors coming into your country and essentially giving you hand-outs. 


Drugs = Free!


These doctors pity the "hispanic" (yes, I just used that word, let's make this hold even more power) and they jump at the chance to help out. In Latin America, let us say Honduras, (to not over-generalize), you have medical brigades. Medical brigades if you are unfamiliar with the idea are groups of mainly US religious groups that come to various countries in LA to 'rid these poor people of their pain' (medically of course). During my ten weeks in Honduras, where I would supervise in four different communities, I had the luck to witness some three medical brigades-all of which took place in the very same community (meaning the other three didn't get any free drugs). 


For the lucky people of the community that do partake in the event, you not only get a dependence on drugs, but you also get religion thrown in your face-all of which presented in absolutely horrible Spanish. The children get some unsustainable toys, like balloons which pop by the end of the day and some lollipops (yeah to cavities)!  And most importantly, the children don't have school as the brigade needs the space of the entire school.. 


How it works is: after seeing a nurse who takes their vitals and jots down their symptoms, the person passes through to a room where a ‘doctor’ (a church organizer) is seated, they reviews their sheet, have a (very) brief dialogue about those symptoms, and then either prescribes medicine or sends them on to see another doctor (for real this time, not a church organizer). 


*This is only a hidden plus, as Honduras is notoriously known for teacher strikes and no school. 

Un Cuentito de Honduras

"a woman came in with her young baby, and I asked her how old she was. She told me that she was three months old and when I asked her what her name was, she said that she didn’t have a name. I was totally taken aback and asked why not and the woman explained to me that the Registro Nacional in their town, where you have to take newborn babies to register them and receive a birth certificate, had been out of ink for several months and so they haven’t been able to register a single one." JP

A Conversation Between Me & You

Me: Shlomie added me on FB!!!!!!!!!!!
You: Ah I'm so jealous!!!!!!

Quince or quince.

I think he has fleas. 

Left to right: Pumpkin, boy with an intense stare, birthday girl #1,          birthday girl #2, and soon to be birthday girl #3. 

starting to think some about the future, should I be a:
private jewish school teacher or a private hippie school teacher?

What do an astronaut, a farmer and a retired general all have in common?

I have officially made up a new type of tea:

• 1/2 c. old chai
• 1/2 c. old chamomile
• 1/2 c. new green tea

Reheated about 5 times = bliss.

Quantities should equivocate to more than one. 

Rafflesia arnoldii 
= Coolest flowering plant ever! 

• It smells like decaying flesh
• Endemic to Indonesia
• About 20 pounds

People Watching

After hours of interview transcription at a local cafe, I decided to take a people watching break.

The subject of the hour is a teenaged girl: 

Blond hair, pajama pants and Ugg boots. 

What was the subject doing? 

Taking a series of photos of herself with her camera phone, flash included.

She was quite the interesting specimen. 

Invasive Species Control: A How-To

Twas the night before a big test, the lil' ones had all gone asleep 

And alas she sat. 

The work was not finished, as it never quite was-

Her heart was beating, the real question on her mind was nothing of Nitrogen sequestration and its affects on Serpentine soils, 

Nothing of la emergencia de la ‘juventud indígena’ but of instead:

Saltiness.

The affects unto individuals that find themselves in a vulnerable state due to a lack of invasive species control and/or management. The strategy of attack:

1. Enemy release (most acute).
2. Novel weapons (release of chemicals that can act allelopathically unto other organisms [natives species] in niche that are/were present prior).
3. New adaptations (similar to #1, but is acquired with more time).

In the shift of puntos de vista, an invasive species can easily be classified as an exotic one. 

Can't they?

boundaries? that is the question.

I drank a cup of coffee this morning, approximately 2 hours ago, it has kicked in. 

 At Sci Li now; my hands are shaking some, my head hurts and I have nausea. 

I don't know what I was thinking. Never again.

The bike shuttle chalked numbers on the sidewalk.
This is the best day ever!

As sem-razões do Amor

Por Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Eu te amo porque te amo.
Não precisas ser amante,
e nem sempre sabes sê-lo.
Eu te amo porque te amo.

Amor é estado de graça
e com amor não se paga.
Amor é dado de graça,
é semeado no vento,
na cachoeira, no eclipse.
Amor foge a dicionários
e a regulamentos vários.

Eu te amo porque não amo
bastante ou demais a mim.
Porque amor não se troca,
nem se conjuga nem se ama.
Porque amor é amor a nada,
feliz e forte em si mesmo.

Amor é primo da morte,
e da morte vencedor,
por mais que o matem (e matam)
a cada instante de amor.

Sonhar sem ilusões.

fuck yeah. 

really diggin' one of my housemates.

something bout snugglin' u tight makes me giddy inside.
alas, not tonight.

goodnight stars,
goodnight moon,
goodnight big mighty man that makes such a great spoon.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s briefcase-I want.

Mario Testino Photography

O filme e letras mais bonitos de todo, é demais.Tengo mis pulmones respirando azul clarito. No puedes comprar mi vida.

Lyrics if you didn't catch it all (in Portuguese and Spanish)

Soy,
Soy lo que dejaron,
soy toda la sobra de lo que se robaron.
Un pueblo escondido en la cima,
nta cualquier clima.
Soy una fábrica de humo,
mano d
mi piel es de cuero por eso agu
ae obra campesina para tu consumo
Frente de frio en el medio del verano,
ue muere,
con los mejores atardeceres.
Soy el 
el amor en los tiempos del cólera, mi hermano.
El sol que nace y el día 
qdesarrollo en carne viva,
un discurso político sin saliva.
Las caras más bonitas que he conocido,
e vale la pena.
soy una canasta con f
soy la fotografía de un desaparecido.
Soy la sangre dentro de tus venas,
soy un pedazo de tierra q
urijoles ,
soy Maradona contra Inglaterra anotándote dos goles.
Soy lo que sostiene mi bandera,
su patria no quiere a su madre.

Brussels Sprouts [Vegan]

One of the quickest and easiest recipes ever (also perfect for the lazy chef). 

1. Buy a bag of Brussels Sprout (TJ's has them for about $2). 
2. Rinse them off, and cut them into halves. 
3. Add olive oil, a bunch of pepper, salt and some lemon juice to taste.
4. 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes (10 on each side). 
5. They should be nice and browned, serve up and eat! Warning, they are really addicting..

On Simchat Torah, we dance with our feet, not with our heads.