Thursday, November 15, 2012

Oscuridad... La noche

La notte e silenziosa e nel suo silenzio si nascondono i sogni- Italiano

La noche es callada y en su silencio se ocultan los suenos- Espanol

La nuit est silencieuse et dans son silence se cachent les reves.- Francais

Die Nacht ist stillund ih ihrer Stille verbergen sich die Traume- Deutsche

The night is silent, and in its silence, dreams are hidden.

Kahlil Gibran

In Spanish, the verb ocultar is defined, "to hide; to conceal from". It also includes to keep from, as in dishonesty by omission; to keep back what ought to be said; to cloak; to disguise;

Shrouded in mystery... se me oculta la razon (the reason is a mystery to me)

Why does this word fascinate me right now?

To tell the truth, I came upon it a couple days ago when I passionately undressed a Baci Perugina Dark Chocolate Hazelnut wrapper. This particular chocolate always has a delicate yet profound message underneath the foil in five languages. Kind of like a Chinese fortune cookie, but more contemplative.

Since I am a fan of Kahlil Gibran's writings, it was refreshing to see the quotation, and even more entertaining to test my language translation skills.

The funniest coincidence is that this was the second day after the General Petraeus Affair Debacle surfaced in the media, so I was treated with a direct true-to-life application of this ancient observation and its many off-shoots.

Petraeus' name, once probably held in high esteem among many, is now being summarily dragged through the mud from not only his own public admission and resignation, but also in the inevitable fallout as it continues to unfold. I can't help but feel the sad irony of the whole thing, where national security concerns have to be brought into play aside the current occupational impropriety.

So... how to maintain political transparency in such an explosive climate? Only time will tell.

Emeli Sande had a few lines on a similar subject...

Easier In Bed lyrics
I'm feeling like a hole in your head
Like the last thing in the world that you need
Time to go but we hold on instead
Close our eyes and we make believe

It's hard, hard to fake it baby
Hard to endure it baby
This don't feel like love anymore
Hard, hard to take it baby
Hard, hard to face it baby
It's getting harder to ignore

But it's easier in bed
Easier in bed
At night-time we pretend
Cos it's easier in bed


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Dancehall Democrats

"You Obama guys are literally at my door right now. Is this a joke? We’re just gonna go vote now.” - taken from a real volunteer's real conversation...

Word on the street is, we get out the vote. That is: New Yorkers on the phones at home, on the buses out-of-state, and Ohioans in the streets in their hometowns! My fellow campaigners in our Williamsburg location have dealt with a lot in the last 24 hours- buzzers that don't work, computers that don't work, volunteers with no phones or laptops, internet links that don't work, grumpy landlords, crowding, emptying, last-minute scheduling or connection changes. etc. All in a day's work, and that day was about 15 hours yesterday. As the Intake Director and Comfort Captain, my duties were signing people in and out, making sure they were well situated and in their seats working, and keeping them hydrated or fed. In this dancehall of an apartment, that is literally a calorie-burning enterprise! Today I have my laptop so I'm able to do more during the few down periods. It's just so exciting to see so many people come out, from different backgrounds and age brackets for a universal goal. I really have high hopes with just a little reserve for possible disappointment (which would be ludicrous, really!).

Our host was really great and definitely a connection I would want to keep. We have definitely had some interesting characters here as well, like the venerable Dr. Geronimo, a white-haired distinguished Black gentleman with gold construction hat and boots, a wheeled display box and a can-do attitude. Today our French expat with no cell phone arrived on Parisian time. We definitely enjoyed her entertaining phone voice. Then there was the apologetic woman with her dog (on-site!) that was very nicely loud in her regrets for "bothering people on a Saturday night". I'm still trying to determine if she was serious or sarcastic. I mean this whole event is called Get Out The Vote. No apologies! We even had a visiting Muslim Canadian woman today from the Social Democratic party representing for a second election. I especially loved last night's campaigning veteran who immediately had sour words about the computer-based predictive dialler and it's many inefficiencies. He requested call sheets and repeatedly made disparaging references to our logistics, but he definitely had an engaging phone personality and even offered to buy four pizzas. Not bad...

Some things I have learned...
1- The importance of constant encouragement to trainees, including knowing the roles of the other directors' in the likely event of a crisis.
2- And then there is Timothy Pancake... an interesting individual on many fronts, but unfortunately appears to be playing for the other team, and thus becomes the requisite stand-in for all recalcitrant Romney-supporters in Ohio. Don't be such a Timothy Pancake!
3- And my own coined term... hey Democrat Donkeys, Don't Be An Ass! Really, because the last thing we need is annoying uber-Dems turning people off and providing any credible (or non-credible) fodder for nay-sayers en masse!
4- Convicts can vote after having served their sentence in Ohio, they just need to re- register. Misdemeanors included.
5- This awesome location is historic, having been one of the headquarters of Ukrainian National Home, and it was also a well-known dancehall in the 1940s.
6- Ben, our fellow training director and erstwhile elementary school teacher is a lover of bananas. To the point that we are now sending him psychic messages to promote his potassium addiction. Although I also learned that bananas make you sleepy, which is why they are recommended before bedtime... but Ben is a crazy barrel of laughs anyway, so he is totally immune...
7- If you think that you might get a last-minute request from Colin because you are the kickingest-ass campaign team in Brooklyn, get ready to spend an extra hour-and-a-half "bringing your A-game!"

Word(s) of the day: 11/2/2012

11/2/2012...
Now that my favorite month of the second half of the year has ended, I have much to reflect on as well as look forward to. We have survived The Sandy here in NYC, less about 35 citizens or so, my sister is en route to NC after much delay and mishap, and we are this much closer to Election Day and a true reckoning of what the next years will bring for this great country. My weekend is pretty set to be hectic, frustrating, exhilarating and tiresome all at once, but I am looking forward to the shared effort!

Two words are at the forefront of my mind now, very loosely connected to each other, but if you know me, they have infinite relationships of value.

1- Dittany: a herb. 'nuff said! The name sounds funny and old fashion-y, which it apparently is... all the way back to Roman manuals for medicine and medieval claims of astral projection. It seems to be related to Oregano and/or Marjoram in herbal scent or flavor. The original(true) variety, Origanum dictamnus or Dittany of Crete, is found in  the most precarious and impossible of mountaintops on the small Greek island, and has been used so much over the millenia that it is now an endagered, highly revered and protected plant with limited production in some small areas of Greece. Apparently, Dittany has also been referred to as an aphrodisiac and thus the focus of many erondades (love seekers), passionate and daring men that sought the pink flowered plant to present to their loves, at the great and often peril of falling deaths.

So, one can conclude that this peculiar hermaphroditic(!) plant is responsible for curing stomach ailments, flavoring prefumes, absinthe and vermouth, making crazy -in-love men climb and fall off mountains, and help witches fly out of their bodies.

2- Gravitas: A Roman virtue from ancient times meaning dignity, weight, seriousness and importance. As in, President Obama's call for such a virtue in the midst of the recovery effort post-Sandy, and pre-election. And, I would add, in the next four years, regardless of who is in office, because the last thing this country needs is the rest of the world looking at us with Schadenfreude.

So where do these two words collide? As my mandate states, I aim to Teach, Sing, Write and Fly. The month of October  has allowed me these opportunities in more ways than I could have imagined. I have Sung Songs from every corner of America, even debuted on Pratt Radio with lushTongue. I have Taught volunteers, voters  and readers alike. I have written many emails to family and friends, colleagues and elected leaders, and managed to squeeze in a few blog entries. And with the revelation of Gravitas and the importance of Dittany, I may very well Fly... if this election goes awry, I will have already applied to United and American Airlines.... let's see where the road takes me!

More Info...
http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2012/08/gravitas-revisited-when-obama-became-acting-president/