Smile at the world and the world will smile back

"Sometimes I think the so-called experts really are experts."
-Jack Handey-

"It's like there are emotional stampedes that ripple across this infinite fabric of humanity."

wait for it....wait for it....

Pure Genius.

Barack was not the first....

i guess social justice is just in the jeans.
fighting the fight until 98.
God Bless.

and then there was that time i got a tattoo...

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Fat Ram's Pumpkin Tattoo, where I got myself inked.
Per usual, the day would not have been complete without a little passing out action. AND, to top it off, when I went to upload my files from my camera phone page, I found the pictures from our exciting trip to the ER LAST fall (just about a year ago) after I cut my hand trying to shuck a clam with a steak knife and promptly passed out. Thank God for Jenny and Abby and the wonderful camera phone.

Bonus points go to those who DON'T know what my Tat is and can guess....my English professors will be either profoundly impressed or profoundly weirded out!

you know the economy is bad...

when you see one bum hit another bum up for money

bum 1: got a few dollars you can help me out with?
bum 2: seriously?

seriously.

Much Ado About Nothing

Notes on JP:
-Apparently I'm not the only one who skips down Centre Street.
-Last Friday, 6pm, man walking down Centre Street with Tuba upon shoulder
-My landlord does not wear shoes. He wants to paint pink flamingos all over the city to slow down traffic. The city despises him.

Notes on life:
Men make a great ado about the folly of demanding too much of life (or of eternity?), and of endeavoring to live according to that demand. It is much ado about nothing. No harm ever came from that quarter. I am not afraid that I shall exaggerate the value and significance of life, but that I shall not be up to the occasion which it is. I shall be sorry to remember that I was there, but noticed nothing remarkable -- not so much as a prince in disguise; lived in the golden age a hired man; visited Olympus even, but fell asleep after dinner, and did not hear the conversation of the gods.
-HD Thoreau-

And on not writing....

Is not the attitude of expectation somewhat divine? -- a sort of home-made divineness? Does it not compel a kind of sphere of music to atend on it? ... What if I should forget to write about writing. It is not worth the while to make that a theme. It is as if I had written every day -- It is as if I had never written before -- I wonder that you think so much about it, for not writing is the most like writing in my case of anything I know.
-HD Thoreau-

So, it's as if I've been keeping up with this blog all along!

And, to all of you who have 2 years of letters stashed way back in my brain, I guess I can let myself off the hook for not officially writing you! As the profound Joey Lawrence once wrote, "the longer I delayed sending the email, the more necessary it seemed to pump it full of inner significance - which is why so often the best letters simply go unwritten." (Whoa!)

Other things to note:
On the bottom of this web publisher, there is a space to add labels for this post. As examples, they give: scooters, vacation, fall. I choose scooters!

Ya Mahn

Dig

Two Quotes for the Day

"My life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is a privilege to do for it whatsoever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
George Bernard Shaw

"Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos."
Don Kardong

Speaking of Music...

Who needs cable or an i-pod when you've got your own acoustic band living in the apartment next door to keep you company while you're cooking and eating and your own solo violinist living behind you to set the mood for the rest of the evening?

Don't ya just love JP?

Also, yesterday I saw a small white yorkie beeping the horn of a pick up truck to tell his owner to hurry up in the fruit market. I shit you not.

but you are the music / while the music lasts

Some Signs That Might Indicate You're Happy...

• You can't get to sleep at night because you're too excited about the next day.
• When you finally DO get to sleep, you wake up giggling.
• For some reason, when you walk, whether it's around your office, down your street or around the neighborhood pond, you can't help but skip.
• You listen to Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing" continuously for a month.
• You find yourself getting caught singing really loudly whilst listening to Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing" and other such spirited jigs and reels as you settle into work every morning.
• It turns out that the giggling isn't just a morning sickness and lasts throughout the day.
• The music keeps going, even when the i-pod is off.
• You randomly begin crying happy tears every few days.

And this one goes out to Ballycastle....

And the way up is the way down, the way forward is the way back.
That time is no healer: the patient is no longer here.
When the train starts, and the passengers are setled
To fruit, periodicals and business letters
(And those who saw them off have left the platform)
Their faces relax from grief into relief,
To the sleepy rhythm of a hundred hours.
Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past
Into different lives, or into any future;
You are not the same people who left the station
Or who will arrive at any terminus
while the narrowing rails slide together behind you;
And on the deck of the drumming liner
Watching the furrow that widens behind you,
You shall not think, "The past is finished"
Or "The future is before us."
At nightfall, in the rigging and the aerial,
Is a voice descanting (though not to the ear,
The murmuring shell of time, and not in any language)
"Fare forward, you who think that you are voyaging;
You are not those who saw the harbour
Receding, or those who will disembark.
Here between the hither and the farther shore
While time is withdrawn, consider the future
And the past with an equal mind.
At the moment which is not of action or inaction
You can receive this: 'on whatever sphere of being
The mind of a man may be intent
At the time of death' -- that is the one action
(And the time of death is every moment)
Which shall fructify in the lives of others:
And do not think of the fruit of action.
Fare forward.

O voyagers, O seamen,
You who come to port, and you whose bodies
Will suffer the trial and judgement of the sea,
Or whatever event, this is your real destination."
So Krishna, as when he admonished Arjuna
On the field of battle.

Not fare well,
But fare forward, voyagers.

--t.s.--

There's No Place Like Gnome

The ladies of 55 Halifax journey back to the homeland for Boilermaker '08.

new game!

Painting or photo i took?! Winner gets a prize to be determined by how much I like winner.

See?

There IS an important link between social justice and sport!

Andrew Sullivan and the guy he's referencing are on to something.

Also, Here: Who knew? WE Knew!

(We being my fellow sport and social change compatriots, that is)

Act Your (Spiritual) Age

"The Warrior of the Light behaves like a child.

People are shocked; they have forgotten that a child needs to have fun and to play, to be slightly irreverent and to ask awkward, childish questions, to talk nonsense that not he believes in.

And they say, horrified, "So this is the spiritual path, is it? He's so immature!"

The Warrior feels proud of such comments. And he remains in touch with God through his innocence and his joy, without ever losing sight of his mission."

-Paulo Coelho-

...a fitting quote for this past week in the life o' O. Mahoney

Good things come from good protests

Check out what my brother was up to during the writers' strike this past year.

...and we all thought he was just gambling away his unemployment checks!

Be sure to watch ALL the episodes!

When reality hits you like a ton of bricks...

It always comes back to T.S., doesn't it?

T minus two months until the big move out West and, for perhaps the first time ever, the girl without forethought has realized that life is about to change, that she has fallen in love with place and people, and that she is leaving them behind in pursuit of the unknown.

I may have posted this at least 5 or 6 times already, but it seems that when you're the sort who can't quite sit still for a great length of time, it is always the time of dying and rebirth. I leave it to T.S. to tell you what this past week has felt like, but I hope that he is wrong and that, in this case, I can turn again.

from "ash-wednesday"
by t.s. eliot

Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and...
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And I pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again...

Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still...

Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross...
And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices...
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel...
Quickens to recover And the blind eye creates...
And smell renews...

This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross...

Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still...

Map My Meghan

So, I "often" write about my runs, which fuel my day with beauty and contemplation, so perhaps I'll start including the maps, too...at least it's one consistent thing that could keep me blogging. Here's one from yesterday:

Green Power

Dig it:

IZZIT GREEN?

How to have a good day...

Yeah, this is pretty much my philosophy.

Now THIS is an Awareness Month I Can Get Behind!!!

Salads of the world...unite!

Uncle Kevin's Big Day

He's just so handsome!

Unleash Your True Potential

When was the last time you checked your Spam inbox? It's just fascinating what one will find:

Re: Your Order for Enhancement
Re: Always ashamed of your small tool? Unleash your true potential NOW
Most popular male device enlargement
Wait til she sees the changes.
Re: When it absolutely, positively, has to be there tonight
The person really desired me.
The person was really desired by others.
consider your male aggregate length
Most popular male aggregate enlarger
Never lose hope to improve!
Girth and length - your best companions
10 inches is possible
Who says that wishes can't come true?
Want it to hang?
Upsize where it matters
A little d.i.c.k.
Girls love it when you plunge deeper
Being larger is everything
Does it satisfy her?
Win from benefits of hidden secret of porn stars!
Sorry for the bad news
The person had beautiful eyes.
Now this is funny!
I'm going to show you

And that is only the FIRST PAGE! Thank you for existing, automatic Gmail Spam filter!

Caught ya!

I love catching teenagers, when they think no one is watching, acting like the genuine individuals they really are. It's so easy to just get pissed off when you see "a group of them" sit down next to you on the train and expect them to be loud and obnoxious -- which is probably they so often decide to meet this expectation by acting accordingly.

But sometimes they don't realize anyone is watching. I usually catch them walking to my office from the train in the morning, when they're headed in the same direction on their way to school. Or sometimes the train will be particularly empty. Usually it happens if there are just 2 or 3 of them. It's typically whenever the need to put on a show is that much less. It's like quietly sneaking up behind a family of deer in the woods and, by staying perfectly still, you can watch them in their true nature as a completely third-party observer. They're just so REAL! And they make me smile and want to grab them and cry out, "Act this way all the time! And, if you already do, get your friends to do the same!"

Tonight I was walking home from the train station and a few were discussing, "the amazing doors or opportunity that scholarships open up for you." YES!

Or, on the way to the train after work, three were discussing how ostracized they felt in class when their teacher only called on and offered supportive comments to the most intelligent student. I wanted to ask who their teacher was so I could go give him/her a lesson in positive youth development.

Or, the other day, three of them on their way to class, with the neatest polka dot and plaid book bags and the most meticulous of outfits, discussed an upcoming history project with sincere interest and excitement.

HaHa!!! Caught ya!

Also, my sister is AWESOME.

Food Stamps

I just finished filling out an application for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship.

Part of my application required me to write a narrative autobiography (don't even get me started on the fact that it could only be something like 1500 CHARACTERS). I wound up writing about how my current work and my academic interests (international affairs, peace and conflict resolution, etc.) have largely been shaped by the suffering I have witnessed throughout my lifetime: from the soup kitchen my parents brought us to volunteer at when I was 5, to the Zambian village of Nkwazi where I spent a month living and working my first year doing Habitat International.

The other night, while tossing and turning in bed, I realized that while I touched on my AmeriCorps*VISTA experience, I did not correlate it to this larger idea of suffering. And, what good is such an experience if you do not bear witness and open perspectives. So, I'd like to tell you about what it's like to be on food stamps.

I think I made about $5 an hour after taxes when I was in my AmeriCorps year. If I hadn't gotten food stamps I pretty much could not have payed for groceries, rent and utilities. If I hadn't convinced work to pay for my monthly Bus/Train pass, I wouldn't have been able to get to work.

So, what is it like to get food stamps? Well, first you have to go to the Office of Transitional Assistance, which no matter where you live is pretty much impossible to get to. You have to take hours out of your work day to go, because they're only open until 5pm every evening...and it's a government office, so they shut down as soon as the hour strikes. Then, whether you had an appointment or not, you get a number and wait and wait and wait.

If you have no money and no income, getting accepted for food stamps is fortunately not all that difficult. BUT when they decide how much you'll get, they don't care about your medical expenses, or your mortgage, or your car payments. For me, that was ok; work would pay for my T pass and I don't have kids and a mortgage. I had loads of dental bills, but they didn't care. (And by "they" I of course mean "the man").

Using the food stamps isn't all that difficult, or at least isn't supposed to be. You get a swanky little debit card that, I believe, is supposed to make the act of paying with food stamps more conspicuous and less embarrassing. Great if it worked out that way. First of all, I'm pretty sure that the debit card was a dual "poor person alert" card, because as soon as I put it in my wallet I just "happened" to set off the theft alarm every time I walked into a grocery store. Secondly, paying with the debit card was never as discreet as it was intended. It seemed like the computer NEVER successfully read the card; and, each time it failed to go through, the cashier would declare "are you paying with food stamps?" or "swipe your food stamp card again" or something else that completely worked in opposition to the card's intended discreet nature. My favorite was the time my card was out and the woman literally yelled "You're out of money on your food stamp account. What do you want to do?" Ok, maybe this doesn't seem all that bad. And it was never all that bad to me. BUT what if I was someone who was not just on food stamps for a one-year trial run? What if I was someone on them indefinitely, with two kids by my side, perhaps whose classmates were standing directly behind us and heard everything?

But the thing is, they don't just give you food stamps indefinitely. No, no, no. One must be reevaluated at least every half a year. For me, this meant no more food stamps. Why? Well, after originally obtaining my assistance, I moved. This meant that I was now under the jurisdiction of a different Office of Transitional Assistance. And this meant that my "file" had to be transferred from the first office to the new one. When I called the old office to find out how this should be done, I got an answering machine. When I directly called my "agent" I got her answering machine telling me that it was full and she could therefore not take messages. When I was able to leave them, I left them, and left them, and left them, for weeks. Finally, I reached someone, who told me I merely needed to go to the new office. So, on a rainy day, I walked a few miles down into the unsightly region of Mass Ave where the Boston OTA is. Within 5 minutes I was leaving again, told that I had to have my agent send them electronic notification that my file was closed with her. So I called her again. And again. And again. All she had to do was return my phone call and press a button. But she didn't.

Fortunately, I was about to transition into a decently paying job. And, again, I have no kids. No mortgage. I hadn't yet been to the emergency room and racked up my $3,000 bill for a band-aid. I was livid. But really, I wasn't angry on my own behalf. I was angry on behalf of those individuals who were going through the same thing and did have kids, mortgages, bills and weren't about to start earning a decent wage. I understood that the OTA is incredibly busy. Unfortunately, they are in high demand by the vast numbers of people in need of their very important services. However, business is no excuse for leaving people in need in even greater need.

I'm not really sure where to go with this. Or if I painted an effective picture. But hopefully I did at least a little.

Beaud-WIN

Check out what the Little Ball of Fury has been up to lately:
Faculty art raises questions on first amendment - News

If you want the whole story and examples of her work, check out her site (on the right bar) or her Blog. (I particularly like the bit about the waxing).

Modern Day Community

Proof that the internet isn't really tearing humanity apart...

And that sport is more than just a bunch of dumb jocks.

An essential reading list for humanity...

This is a work in progress and additions are welcome.

As I sat quietly munching my Kashi and reading Thich Nhat Hanh's "True Love" this morning, after an amazingly profound discussion about the essence of religion and tradition with Suzanne on our morning run, I was struck by the profound truth in the similarities among a long list of writers and thinkers whose poetry and prose have brought me meaning in recent years. Together, they represent appreciating the beauty of the present, understanding, compassion, joy, life.

Here is just a start ('cause I have to go do my work):
-Merton
-Rilke
-Levinas
-Thich Nhat Hanh
-Eliot
-

Not 'til the at risk for overweight/diabetes lady sings...

It ain't over 'til it's over...

Seriously.

Be Smart, Vote

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for...

Though if I were to do so, I would tell you to vote for Obama...

I am, however, going to tell you to Vote...

And even though as I consider my audience, I know I'm preaching to the choir...

It's the least I can do.

If you don't vote...

You have no right to complain.

If you don't vote...

You're saying that you don't count.

If you don't vote...

Well, history speaks for itself.

Dirty Yurting

If this isn't Yurt-alicious, I don't
what know what is!