my days

i am surprised that it has actually been a week since i last posted here! i thought it's only been for a day or two... my days these days seem to whiz by so fast in almost psychedelic colors! : )

***

ive mostly been concentrating on doing my part well for The Vagina Monologues, reading aloud over and over again until i memorized my lines, getting into my character, rehearshing with my group, then rehearsing with the entire cast.

it has paid off; last night was grand.

i asked my daughter, thea, whom i brought with me, to watch and critique me, as well as take our pictures. i asked her if i still looked like a lady, given the theme of the show; what she said warmed my heart, "you looked like a goddess, ma! you looked different from the rest, special, with your 50s hairdo and all, and you were so fair, your skin shone, all the rest looked funny with white foundationed faces but dark necks and shoulders. you looked like somebody special, too, as you were in both acts, and seated right in the center, while all the rest got transferred around... "

enough said. : ) i'll post the pictures here later, as soon as she has them transferred from the digicam to the computer.

***

ive been getting into the groove with my meditations at last, hitting a trotting pace, instead of the fumbling and stumbling and hit-or-miss sessions with my self ive been having for the past 4 weeks or so... somehow, i can finally see my way into this whole new world of discovering more of my mind and using them in special ways...

***

the peace journalism core group of three people (A, L and i) tasked to implement this recently approved grant project finally met formally last saturday, and made more specific plans for what we want to do when we start work on april 1.

we've recently received the formal communication from the grant funding agency informing us of our project's approval and asking me to make the first request for the funds for the first six months.

needless to say, A, L and i are very excited about this new endeavor and adventure!

***

i got a forwarded email from a USIP request for project proposals which got me excited. i have decided to submit one.

if my application gets approved, it means i can go to the US and do research for 10 months, with my kids with me too, and in washington, d.c., at that, on an $80,000 stipend!!!

we get to see mama and not worry her about supporting us during our stay there. that is the most wonderful benefit of all!

***

i just learned last saturday that a student i used to mentor, a young woman full of intelligence, heart and promise, suddenly died after being brought to the hospital for very high fever and diarrhea, because of allergic complications.

some part of me is still stunned.

...

800? 800?

bea goes around these days asking that silly-sounding question. sometimes it can become really irritating but we try to humor her.

she has just truly begun to comprehend the concept of numbers and their magnitude i guess, because last week she kept asking me--

18 plus 18 ma?
1800 plus 1800 ma?
is there a hundred hundred ma?

so now, every chance she gets, when she means something really big, or wide, or too much, or way out, or over the top, she looks at you with her big round eyes and says--

wowww, 800?
800, you mean it?
really, 800?