Check out the art and photography from my recent trip to Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece

My shoes wait to be broken into.  They long await the foreign and mysterious terrain of the Hashemite Kingdom.

 Each blister, cut, and soar waiting to make an appearance   Wounds openly welcome; a pain I look forward to.  

My finger nails long for dirt.  They long to break and chip and crack.

The immortal smell of hookah fills my head with a constant dizziness; a anticipated dizziness.  

My body years for exhaustion.  It begs to be abused and pleads for no mercy; a crusader.  

My ears ready to hear.  And my eyes ready to see.  Restless the refuse to close.  

My clothing clings to the bars of its suitcase cage, begging for release.  To be ripped, torn, dirtied, and perhaps if lucky, forgotten in this land they so love.  

My body ready, my body willing, my body here. 

Generation Sustain.   A film made for the United Nations International Day of Peace

I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor, that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in:
machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.

Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”.

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish…

Soldiers: don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written:
- “The kingdom of God is within man”
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy: let us all unite!

we victimize others based on their appearance, beliefs, religion, and being. 

Does that not then make us the terrorists? Challenge the stereotypes we are all soo comfortable with. 

Seven killed in Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

At least seven people, including a gunman, have died in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in the US.

The attacker “ambushed” a policeman at the scene, shooting him multiple times, before a second officer returned fire, killing the gunman, said authorities.

The shot officer was among three men critically injured in the attack in Oak Creek, suburban Milwaukee.

Later local TV showed police vehicles at another suburb, near what is believed to be the gunman’s home.

Reports said the FBI and a bomb squad had gone to search the building, in Cudahy, about 2.5 miles (4km) north of the temple, and had evacuated several blocks.

Police said they believe there was only one shooter, despite initial witness reports of more than one gunman.

‘Terrorist-type incident’

President Barack Obama spoke of his sadness at the shooting, which comes just over two weeks after a gun massacre left 12 people dead at a Colorado cinema.

Hundreds of people turned out for an impromptu candlelit vigil in the nearby city of Milwaukee for the victims of the temple shooting on Sunday evening.

At a press conference, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said they were treating the attack as a “domestic terrorist-type incident”, and that the FBI would take over the criminal investigation.

He said he could not release any information about the shooter, who local media reports said was a white male aged about 40.

Women and children hid in closets as the gunfire erupted shortly before 10:30 local time (15:30 GMT) on Sunday.

Four people were dead inside the temple and three outside - including the gunman, said the authorities.

“The best information is that there was only one gunman,” said Chief Edwards.

‘Shot in face’

He said the gunman had opened fire on one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, as the officer tended to a victim outside the temple.

Distraught family members gathered outside the temple waiting for news

The policeman was shot multiple times, before a second officer exchanged gunfire with the suspect, fatally shooting him, added Chief Edwards.

At least three critically injured men were being treated at Milwaukee’s Froedtert Hospital, said officials at that facility.

They included the shot police officer, although he was expected to survive, said Chief Edwards.

Local news station WISN 12 reported that one of the injured had gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, the second had shots to the face and the third had gunshot wounds to the neck.

Oak Creek is a town of about 30,000 people in the south-east corner of the state.

‘Insanity’

The website for the temple says it opened in 1999 and now has a congregation of 350-400. Sunday morning was the busiest time of worship, members of the congregation said.

Devendar Nagra, whose sister escaped injury by hiding in the temple’s kitchen, told the Associated Press: “We never thought this could happen to our community. We never did anything wrong to anyone.”

Suni Singh told Newsradio 620 WTMJ that he had spoken to a friend inside the temple at the time.

“My friend called and said, ‘I heard the shot, and two people falling down in the parking lot.’ He saw the shooter reloading the gun,” Mr Singh said.

Darshan Dhaliwal, who identified himself as a leader at the temple, told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: “This is insanity.”

President Obama said he was “deeply saddened” by Sunday’s incident.

“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded,” he said in statement released by the White House.

“As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.”

Local politician Mark Honadel called the attack “craziness”.

The state representative told CNN: “Unfortunately, when this type of stuff hits your area, you say to yourself, ‘why?’ But in today’s society, I don’t think there’s any place that’s free from idiots.”

So I have no one at work to share my story with nor do my “Friends” inquire about last night’s events ( witht he exception of my best friend Jacqueline who is certainly my rock in life); therefore, I turn to you, like a flower to the sun, a wave to the shore. 

So everytime I break up with a boyfriend I usually go through the “oooh mahh gawd, its me” phase SO as means of attacking this Daddy Complex reprecussion I join PlentyofFish which is a dating website to bring back some type of confidence in myself although, yes, I am well aware that confidence comes from within, yadah yadah yadah. 

Well, I just let people inbox their desires for me, their passions, their interest, and their numbers.  Who wouldn’t want to wake up in the morning with messages divulging the inner most lust of men and expressions of beauty.  I am all in for that.  I find myself objectifying men more and more quite frankly.  Payback. 

So one day while getting ready for the 9-5 job I apparently love soo much I received a notification on my way too expensive iPhone from POF about some guy who sen tme a message.  It would have just been glanced at and deleted.  But something was different, perhaps it had nothing to do with him and the change was all me OR it was him and not me at all.  I can’t remember what the message said but I responded.  From a response a week ago to kisses on the Brooklyn Bridge last night, I’ve got that “fuck, i thought all men were pigs.  wow, maybe they aren’t.  ah, butterflies” feeling. 

So last nigth at 10:30 I sat on the steps on my university, Pace, across from City Hall and just anxiously spoke to my best friend on the phone waiting the arrival of my date, my Turkish, Kurdish, tattoo artist, date.  And then he appeared and I could do nothing…..BUT GIGGLE!  Greeted with a hug and light kiss on the cheek the night that was soo quickly ending and becomming morning began. 

We walked along the bridge walking through each others’ pasts, presents, and futures.  Turkish lessons, quick but piercing glances, and the occasional sequinned heel stuck in the wooden planks of the bridge falling.  It was hot.  We were sticky but the sticky body of the man had not yet touched the stick body of the woman. To Brooklyn Heights Promenade we landed and conquered.  Getting there was no easy task.  A festival had take place earlier and we made our way through oceans of bodiees leaving the promenade.  Clearing the scene for our crime to be made.   (ah fuck, Pandor is now playing ” You could be happy” by Snow Patrol……way to force me into pensivity pandora!)  So we reached the stairs overlooking Manhattan, there were no stars really just lights of the buildings.  But they were certainly our stars last night. 

We both wanted to kiss.  It was undeniable.  We sat there fiddling, speaking little speak that was irrevleant and probably forgotten in the midst of butterflies.  I don’t remember how it happened, what was said, who looked at who first, but the kiss ignited this passion, trembling in my soul, that was in a deep slumber, somber and hibernating.  And might I say, DAMN what a good kisser.  But they were kisses that I didn’t want to open my eyes.  They refused to stop their lust.  As if our eyes are connected to our lips.  Perhaps that is just it.  They are connected.  It is inherent, the eyes close, the lips meet, the hands grasp.  For I know my eyes were diligent in not opening.  Diligent in kissing him so hard.  What a great night not to use hair products.  He ran his hands through my hair with romance and ease. His beard brushed and tickeled my cheeks, hot and red as they were.  Between kisses we spoke of life, politics, and without words but eyes we spoke of our want for each other. 

As the passion-crushing cops approached us to inform us that the park was closed we stumbled our way through the park haltng every few footsteps to steal a kiss from the other.  Heels were not the best option for tonight.  I did not realize I’d be treding through terrane of all sorts.  I apologize to my feet only briefly and lightly.  Making our way back to the Brooklyn Bridge, making our way back to the end where we so didn’t want to be, the walk was one of holding hands, holding each other, and holding of hearts.  I could be exagerating because of the whole daddy complex and I tend to fall soo easily at times, but perhaps not.  We had reached the second half of the bridge where we just stopped and starred at one another.  I’m not quite sure or remember really howit all happened but I found myself hoisted up again the walls of the bridge,  defying gravity and death, making out.  When the eyes did open it was a view of the whole city, a man starring back at me, and utter fear of falling over the bridge that claimed me.  We sat, two hippies with shoes off, legs intwined, ingoring passerby.  It was 3am when we decided it best to continue the journey into division.  He at the train stop at City Hall and me to my apartment on Fulton.  The kisses at the trainstation seemed to be kisses taken to remember.  Long, passionate, surprisingly soft and sweet, yet hard and rough.  

He went right and I went left.  I just had the best date with a communist tattoo artist who would be leaving in September for Turkey.  I was the first girl he kissed in New York.  While he wasn’t my first boy to kiss in New York, he was certainly the first real kiss I had in New York.  Shame on me for wasting soo many other kisses on nameless lips.  My walk home was filled with smiles, giggles, and sore steps in heels that I wish were flipflops.  I fell asleep texting him and woke up to him.  Not sure if I would want it any other way. 

And now….now I’m at work contemplating bringing a dress back to TJ MAXX so I can put more money on my metro card so I can see him…..but i loooovvveee that dress!  zout alors

Might I just say— this is 100 times better than 50 Shades of Grey…..just sayin’ He also brought me a present— a hookah of my own!  Now, that is a good man. 

Alors, ses baisers étaient infinies. Je souhaite seulement que la nuit était sans fin, ainsi. 

As the daughter of a US Marine rodeo clown and a singing Naval Officer English professor I’ve often contemplated who I am but also what I want to be, how I want to live, and where to go in life. I am discovering now that I it is privilege that allows me to ask myself those questions, and I see how fortunate I am to have such. I am not resentful towards my privilege, but I cannot help but be disappointed for denying itself to others. I want to be part of IHRE not only because I believe that my privilege should be a right to everyone, but that good intentions are not enough and action is required; my action. Helping those in need and devoting myself to world peace, justice, and cannot simply be labeled as an interest or extracurricular activity as it can be characterized as my vocation. I must abort my limits and rape my boundaries to learn, grow, and become a leader.

Being an Acting major pursuing a double minor in Womens and Gender Studies and Peace and Justice Studies, I aspire to fuse my passion for social justice. I will be studying and engaging in human rights at the University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg. I’ll be given the opportunity to work with NGOs and specialize in my field of theatre as a tool for social justice. Also, I will be starting a project once in South Africa.

*While in Johannesburg I will be creating a documentary that follows the lives of youth imprisoned in South Africa and their integration into society after imprisonment. The documentary will explore theatre as a tool for reconciliation within society exploring race, gender, and class in the post- Apartheid era. The documentary will then be submitted to numerous and various film festivals globally for consideration.

However, with rising cost of tuition and just of life it is difficult to pursue my dream that has been offered to me. Too often do we see today that we must sacrifice our dreams and aspirations because of our economic status and financial burden. I cannot so easily be defeated.

I look to you for help. Your donations and contributions are worth while and not being used in vain.

Because the program is an international program it does permit many expenses to follow. While I have been working my numerous jobs to collect the funds for this wonderful experience I know I will not be able to reach my full expenses potential without your help.

With your help and contribution I will be able to pay my deposit, airfare, tuition, and other expenses. Thank You.

Please help my footprints make their mark- every bit of aid helps <3

Click HERE to become a footprint in my life. 

I suppose it is because I am an idealist that I’ve fallen in love with this.

However I do not agree with the absolute lack of privacy and complete integration of surveillence into my life….but for now I am going to overlook that and admire the goodness in others rather and bask in the delight of knowing that we can all love than the oppression from some right now