adventures of alisha

i love this!

2011-11-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I wrote about what is happening in my life. I'm back in North Carolina, and I want to talk about it for a little bit. I was planning to stay in Uganda until October-ish, but my baby sister (actual age:18 -editor) was going to Taiwan to teach English for a year at the end of August. She called me and asked me to come home to see her, and how could I say no? Coming back, I had no commitments: no job, no mortgage, car payments, school I had to be at next semester, nothing. Scary but exciting, right? I briefly considered moving back to Connecticut, moving to Cali, the Northwest (for like a day), and then my dear friend and former roommate, the lovely Katie DeConto, emailed me to tell me that her sister was moving out, so she had an empty room, and did I want it? I couldn't think of anything I wanted more. So corny, but so true.

Anyway, I flew back to the States two days before my sister left. I was excited to see her, excited about running water, an oven, endless baking supplies. I was home for one week when a tropical storm came through and knocked out the electricity, and the water. I was again without running water and cooking over a fire. So I decided it was time to come to Durham. Sweet Suzanne flew up to CT and we drove back together. We arrived to a house full of friends, art-in-progress, and yummy food. I can't imagine a better homecoming.

While I was in Uganda thinking about coming home, I felt like God told me I would love the next two years of my life, and so far, I do. I love my friends, love being this age, love the opportunities I have, and am excited about the loose plans I have for the next few years. I'm busy with work (I waitress), volunteering, friends, baking and little side business-y things. And also this:

Hey, that's a very important part of being a 20-something.

In Praise of Tears

2011-11-01T09:00:00.004-04:00

I love traveling. But when I've been gone for a while, I start daydreaming about the first shower I will take at home. I miss knowing the exact spot to turn the tap to get the temperature I want, what the water pressure will be (and that I won't run out of hot water), standing in the shower seeing my full sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash. As the water runs down my body, I feel like it washes off not only the grime and dirt of the plane, the car, my previous location, but also any tiredness, disconnect, or confusion I may be feeling as a result of my trip. The water reminds me of who I am, what I've forgotten about myself while travelling. It's when I start using the muscle memory of my normal life again. Home becomes the reality, and my trip becomes a memory.

Yesterday I was preparing to run errands, when my roommate brought up a relationship that I've been struggling with for over a year. There's pain I thought I'd worked through, but she (rightly) felt that more forgiveness was needed. As we talked, we both began to cry: pretty little streams trickling down her checks, big ugly sobs shaking my shoulders. I hadn't cried like that in a year, which is a long time to go without a soul shower. Crying is muscle memory for my heart-- it reminds me of who I am, and the feelings associated with being human: pain, sadness, forgiveness. I had been trying to block these feelings out, but to do so is to deny my humanity. I am not ceramic: hard, repellant, breakable. I am made of clay: soft, absorbent, pliable. Sometimes I need to be reminded of that, because sometimes I forget. Fortunately, I have roommates and tears to help me along.

Syncrobloggers strike again! This is a post on the subject of Water. Read my fabulous friends' fabulous essays here.

Do Not Open Until Oct. 4, 2001

2011-10-04T09:00:00.170-04:00

Oct. 4, 2011

Dear 15 Year Old Alisha,

Hi! Just a little note from me, your 25 year old self. Don't freak out, ok? I know you still haven't seen Back to the Future, so the idea of time travel still seems like something only science nerds like, and your first blog is still two years away, so you have no idea what a blog even is, but don't worry. You'll figure it all out. I'm just visiting from the future to give you some friendly advice.

I just want to tell you a few things to help you make it through the rest of your teens and into your twenties successfully. First of all, I know what you really want in life is to be a "media-tition" (a word you so cleverly made up), but why don't you sit down and actually define what exactly that means before you just run off and apply to the the first college you've literally ever heard of (hint: majoring in "communications" at your parents' alma mater Bible college isn't what you're looking for)! Trust me, this will save you at least two transfers and a few classes. Do the research, baby. Also, are you absolutely sure that you want to make movies? I know you like taking photos and all, but is that really your passion? Yes? Okay-- just asking.

Secondly, in the next few years, you may find yourself obsessed with spending money, and end up working all the time to feed your crazy habit of buying every sale item you see when you walk into a store. Please don't. You really don't need all that stuff, and you'll spend all your time working and miss out on memories with your friends. You'll regret that. Promise. Also, it will lead to some questionable fashion choices and having to figure out if you're going to store or give away junk every time you move (which will happen roughly once a year for at least the next ten years-- get ready).

Thirdly, um, (Mom and Dad, if you happen to find this letter by some unfortunate chance, you can definitely skip this part) don't be so scared to kiss boys. You might like it (okay, full disclosure: you will). You don't have to kiss every boy who wants to kiss you, but a few are fine. Just sayin'.

And lastly, please don't have such high expectations for me. I'll tell you right now that I don't live up to them. But don't worry, even though your teens and twenties won't be what you expect, or necessarily want now, you are going to enjoy your life more as you age. I mean, at least until 25. I can't speak for 26 and on (but I do have a hunch!) Your life won't be perfect; like most of your peers, you'll spend a long time figuring out exactly what you want when you grow up, but that's okay: don't be afraid of it, just enjoy learning. The fact that you don't know everything about yourself is actually fine, and the sooner you learn to enjoy learning about you, instead of telling yourself who I am, the smoother the transition will be. Just take a chill pill. The future is not as scary, or as predictable, as you think it is.

Love,

Future Alisha

twitter: @alishasharayah

facebook: asagemy.facebook.com

email: gmail.com

(i know all of these web addresses mean nothing to you, but i have to prove i'm from the future somehow, right? also, in the future, no one uses capitalization-- i just did in the letter so you wouldn't be alarmed).

ps- this letter is part of a synchroblog you will participate in with some of your friends! find out more about them here.

Learn to Fall

2011-09-21T17:05:00.003-04:00

Fear. Fall. Fail.

Fall = Fail?

So many ways to fall

So many ways to fail

Prancing barefoot across a mossy log

feet slip

Covered in mud

don’t do that anymore

balanced on a ladder hanging lights

Ball, cat, dog, kid

Wobble, teeter

No more ladders, thanks

Skiing, jump rope, ballet:

So many chances to fail

Speaking, singing, loving:

So many chances to fall

falling

Learning from mistakes

Understanding

That it is better to stay

Close, close

Down

Down to the ground.

Don’t stand too high—

Don’t jump

don’t dance

Don’t risk the fall

Don’t risk the fail

And falling can be failing,

And failing EQUALS fear

Sometimes. Unless

Remember?

That one who slipped,

And, covered in mud,

Discovered: that the fall

Was not quite as

Expected?

Decided: that falling

Was not scary as

Suspected.

Take the chance:

To dance!

To sing!

To speak, to joke

To do your thing.

And you may find

That though you fall

You do not fail

And thus your fears

To no avail.

And I say

More power to you.

See more posts on the subject of Falling here.

Not Gone (Forever)

2011-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

I just arrived back in good ol’ RDU after spending six months in Uganda. If you had told me when I left that I would be this happy to be back, I would have thought that you didn’t know me very well. I always thought I was the kind of person who didn’t have problems relating to people—any people, even if we only sort of spoke the same language, or had been raised in different cultures. I thought for sure I would love Africa and maybe just stay there forever. I didn’t buy a return ticket, because I didn’t know if I would need it.

At first, I adored Uganda. It was so laid back, so beautiful. Everyone I met was so nice, and so interested in me. I was ok with sharing a room with 9 other girls, and taking cold showers, and eating lots of carbs, because I didn’t have a job and got to eat fresh pineapples and mangos and dance to my roommates’ drumming. Everything was exactly like I expected it to be.But as time went on, things began to change. Life began to get more difficult-- I began to get annoyed—what once seemed like laid back, slow paced living began to define itself as tardiness. I got tired of tripping over the beautiful uneven African roads as I walked everywhere. And I realized that people were interested in me because I was a foreigner, not because I was so witty and interesting. Bummer. After 3 months, I didn’t have running water anymore, and I got tired of getting water out of a jerrycan for everything from bathing to cooking to drinking. I was tired of Africa and wanted my mom. I was grumpy.

I started to have an identity crisis. I wasn’t the culturally flexible person I thought I was. To my horror (and I really don’t want to admit this), I even found myself smugly thinking that there were certain things that we do better in America. I began to think that maybe I shouldn’t be in Africa, and I bought my return ticket. I was ready to go home, get an office job, and buy an iPhone and a little house with a white picket fence, and never leave America again.

I played basketball for one season when I was like 12, and I was horrible. The game is too fast-paced for me, and I hated running back and forth up the court the whole game. I thought it was stupid, but my dad told me since I had chosen to play, I wasn’t allowed to quit. That season was hard, but at the end, I was really proud of myself for sticking with it, and I learned that I can stick with something, even if it’s hard.

Even as I waited to leave Uganda, I knew I will have to go back to Africa. I may not be the person I thought I was—I may not be able to just slide flawlessly into any role, but I’m not about to give up without a fight... a long one. I am not the person I thought I was when I went to Uganda,-- I have problems relating to people, adapting to new places—but I won’t always. Africa, I’m happy to be here now, but I’ll see you again. I still have lots to learn from you.

This post is part of an awesome synchroblog, The Creative Collective, that my friends and I write together. Read their entries here: http://synchrobloggers.wordpress.com

African English

2011-07-06T09:55:00.000-04:00

Uganda, like many African nations, was colonized by the British, and as a result, their national language is English. It's not people's first language-- most people speak the local language at home, and learn English when they go to school. Like most English speaking nations, Uganda has her own unique brand of English that's a little different from the rest. I've provided here a handy list of words and phrases that you should know if you ever come to Uganda.

"I have ever" - If you hear this phrase, you may think that the speaker means "I have always", but don't be fooled! It just means, "At some point in my life, I have..." ex: "I have ever seen someone standing on her head under a tree."

"Somehow" - any time you hear this, just substitute the word "somewhat" in your mind. It used to bother me, but now if I hear the word used the American way, I have to really think about it to determine if it's wrong. ex: "Are you sick?" "Somehow."

"Flu" - the first few times I was sick, people asked me if I had flu, and I said no. It took me a while to realize that here, "flu" is used like we use "cold" - a catch-all word for when you're feeling under the weather.

"He or she" - I'm pretty sure I have never heard the words "they" or "their" leave a Ugandan's mouth. Along with this is a formality of speech that feels so wordy to my American brain. ex: "Thank you all for gathering here tonight. If anyone left his or her towel outside, I would like to request him or her to take the time to go retrieve it after the meeting is adjourned". On the other hand, my African friends tease me that I eat my words (I don kno wha theyre taukin abou!)

"move" - can be substituted for any of the following words as appropriate: drive, walk, run, ride, etc. You get the idea. Makes sense, but took me some time to get used to.

"pants", "trousers" - if you use the wrong word, you may end up embarrassing yourself, as I have done on several occasions. ex: the time I whispered "I like your pants" to my friend on a crowded bus and he thought I was hitting on him.

"mzungo" - if you happen to have light colored skin, you will hear this word more than any other word. I think I mentioned that in a previous post.

"someone" - usually when I say the word someone, I don't know who a person is specifically. Here, it's rare to hear people refereed to directly by name. "Someone" is used to refer to a specific person, and I'm pretty sure that everyone always knows who the person is. ex: "Someone has cooked a delicious supper tonight", "Someone is about to step in the water I spilled."

"Sorry" - I think I've mentioned this before. My friends think it's so funny that Americans say "Are you OK?" if someone gets hurt. They say "Ohhh.... sorry!"

"Welbee back!" - instead of "Welcome home!" I have no idea where this came from, but it's by far my favorite African-Englishism.

These are all the words I can think of right now. If I think of a lot more, I'll do a part 2, because this was kinda fun. :)

Arua

2011-05-23T06:19:00.000-04:00

Things I've done this week for the first time:

-Made tea for 12 people over a fire
-Carried water, in a jerrycan, from a well, to use for bathing, cooking, etc.
-Been asked to share a meal by an old lady who didn't speak English, gladly accepted and started eating, then realized there were fish heads in the greens I was noshing.
-Been laughed at so hard for my dancing (ok, ok, definitely not the first time!)

What I've seen of Arua is great. The people are very poor, but hospitable. We've been interacting a lot with the community, picking up trash, meeting with health workers and community leaders to try to help improve the community.

Short, I know, but that's it for now.

Meetings and Malaria

2011-04-30T05:34:00.001-04:00

Internet at the base has been spotty for a few weeks, and then we haven't had it at all for about a week, so, between that, the busyness of school, and my natural aversion to writing (see: every other post), I haven't had a chance to write for a while. But there has definitely been a lot going on.

My program is 5 months long-- 3 months of classroom training and 2 months of practical community interaction (outreach). Our outreach starts around May 15, and so we've started getting ready for it. There are 24 students, and right now it looks like 12 will go to Tanzania and 12 will go to northern Uganda. I'm part of the group going to northern Uganda. We've begun to have team meetings and talk about what we will be doing and how we will be dividing up different responsibilities. I was sick the day the jobs were given out, and I ended up with secretary, which means I'm supposed to keep a record of what we do and who we help, prayer requests, etc. Not my favorite thing (I'm allergic to writing, remember?) but I am determined to do a good job and not complain.

A week or two ago we had a day out at Kingfisher Resort-- we had classes,

ate a yummy lunch,

and spent the afternoon swimming in the pool. Such a fun day.

A few days later I woke up not feeling great, and then developed a fever during classe. I was sore and achy, and certain people were convinced that I had malaria. For someone who wasn't born in Africa, the most important thing if you have malaria is to get quick treatment. There's an easy test you can do-- it's like a pregnancy test: you put a drop of blood on it, wait 5 minutes, and check for one line (clean) or two (malaria!) Then, if you have malaria, you start taking medication and everything is fine-- you're back to normal in like 3 days. But if you wait too long you have to go to the hospital, and it's complicated and serious. So the key is to have a malaria test as soon as you feel yucky or have a fever.

There are only three people on the base who have access to the malaria tests: Msaki, my school leader; Lucy, my friend from the UK who does neo-natal care in one of the villages; and Dr. Tim, the base leader, but also a doctor. Unfortunately, that day, Msaki and Dr. Tim were out of town and Lucy was at work. I spent the afternoon in bed, wondering if I was going to die from malaria or not. People kept coming and asking me if I had it, and did I feel like I usually feel when I get it?

Finally Lucy arrived, and amidst much drama (I live in a dorm full of kind, motherly girl-women, remember) (also, the lights were out, so everything was done by flashlight) took my temp (38.3 C), and administered the test. More drama, as there was one dark line and a light line, so she wasn't really sure about my diagnosis, and she didn't have another test. We decided to wait and see how I felt the next day. Lucy brought me a soda, I drank it, Zoe took me for a walk, because I'd started feeling better, and then I broke my fever. I took it easy the next day, and felt fine the day after that. So I didn't have malaria-- I don't know what I had, but I feel fine now.

Shopping! In Kampala

2011-04-02T21:00:00.024-04:00

This morning my friends Ritah, Miriam, and I woke up before dawn to catch the bus to the capitol city of Kampala. Rita is from there, and she wanted to go visit her mom. Miriam and I wanted to shop and hang out. I've been here for 6 weeks now, and have used up all my clothing combos. I heard that they have cheap clothes in the market, so I wanted to check it out.

We were walking down the main road by 7am. I think I mentioned before that the buses drive on the other side of the road, same as England. I always forget and look the wrong way before crossing, and the drivers have to honk at me. Ah yai yai. Anyway, the taxis drive down the main road pretty fast, so when you see them coming, you stretch out your hand with your arm up or down (to indicate destination- Kampala or Jinja, respectively), and use your fingers to show how much you want to pay: 4 fingers to show 4000 shillings (about $1.70) for a trip to Kampala, or a fist to show 500 shillings (20 cents) for a trip to Jinja. We walked for a while, and finally a bus pulled over for us. We climbed in and made ourselvers comfortable for the 2 hour drive to Kampala. We drove a mile or two, and the door suddenly wouldn't stay closed, so they pulled over, and made us all get on a different bus. The new bus had a bunch of live chickens tied to the top, and my seat back way broken, so every time we went over a bump, i went flying and the chickens started squawking. Fortunately the roads are pretty smooth, so we didn't hit too many bumps.

We arrived in Kampala, and stopped at Shop-Rite, which is a big supermarket with some American brands, like Heinz and Oreos, and lots of food variety you can't find elsewhere. When we arrived, there was a sign announcing Cadbury Easter eggs, and I was so excited, but alas- they were nowhere to be found. What I ended up with was shampoo, conditioner, and the most ridiculous purchase of the day: shaving cream, which was something like $5 for one can. Crazy, but after considering my unpleasant alternatives, I decided it might be worth it.

By this time it was 10, and we were hungry. We walked to Ritah's mom's house and Ritah made some delicious Irish (potatoes) and beans. Ritah's dad is a professor at a college there, and we cut through campus to get there. Here is a picture:

Here are a few pictures of downtown Kampala:

The Astoria Hotel! I thought that was so funny.

After a few stops we finally made it to the clothes market. It was a bit overwhelming for me. I got a lot of attention; because of my skin color, some people assumed I have loads of money to give away. It was awkward: I wanted to blend in and just watch what was happening, but couldn't. People walked up and asked me for my number without even asking my name... Maybe they were going to put me in their phone as "Muzongu" (light skinned)? Anyway, despite my discomfort, we ended up getting some deals that made up for the $5 shaving cream. For example, this outfit cost me <$4:

And I found skinny jeans. I was really regretting not bringing any (Ugandans are mad fashionable), but I was able to buy some in the market. It took me a while to find the right pair, and then when I wasn't looking, the guy switched out my pants for a different pair that was much smaller. The good news in, since everything is washed by hand and line dried, I was able to stretch them out enough to finally get into them:

Verdict: such a fun day.

Uganda, Pt. 2

2011-03-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

I've now been in Uganda for over a month, and am totally settled into a daily routine. A normal day for me is

wake up at 5:45
quiet time from 6-7
clean my room, dress, eat breakfast (2 rolls and hot sweet tea) 7-8:30
class from 8/8:30-1
lunch break from 1-2:30
small group from 2:30-3:30
work duty from 3:30-5:30 (things like cleaning bathrooms, washing clothes by hand, shucking dried corn)
free time from 5:30-6:30 (I usually shower, rest, and read)
dinner at 6:30, followed by free time until bed.

I usually go into town on Saturday and do laundry on Sunday, punctuated by hanging out with friends. Going into town is an all day event, because travel is tiresome: walk to the bus stop, wait for a bus, drive, walk all over town, take the bus back to the bus stop, walk back. Even though the town is only a few miles away, it's about an hour travel each way. I usually go with my American friend Ella (eh, eh, eh Ella), and the first thing we always do is go to one of the restaurants with western food and eat. We eat a lot of carbs on the base, so we're always excited to get some variety in our diets.

A typical weekday menu:
breakfast: rolls and tea
lunch: beans and posho (I'm not really sure how to describe this-- it's like a really thick porridge made of corn).
supper: rice with beans or gnut (peanut) sauce, cooked greens or cabbage, pineapple.

So, there's a snippet of my daily life. tbc...

Eat, Bake, Love

2011-03-18T13:23:00.001-04:00

Ask me what my favorite memory is. Ask me what my favorite hobby is. Ask me what I miss most when I leave the U.S. Go on, ask me. They are three different questions, but they have the same answer: Baking and Eating. Not eating, shoveling some microwaved food into my mouth quickly as I run out the door, but Eating: that time-consuming, mouth-watering, multi-dish experience that must be shared to be fully enjoyed. Not baking: throwing a frozen pie in the oven or cutting dough from a roll, but Baking: that experience that leaves me covered in flour, with dirty dishes in the sink, and between shopping, cutting, kneading, rolling, rising, shaping, pouring, cooling, baking, frosting, and cleaning can take all day, and leave me with an aching back and tired feet, but is still somehow my favorite way to spend a day.

I was lucky to grow up in a family that values food. While many of my peers grew up eating boxed cereal and microwaved casseroles, my stay-at-home mom took the time to cook 3 meals a day for most days of my childhood. To my shame, I once complained because Mom had made muffins for breakfast 4 days in one week-- but that gives you an idea of how we ate. Mom wanted us to Eat well, and she wanted us to Eat together. Most evenings, to this day, the entire family will gather together for dinner to Eat... it's basically a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. These are some of my favorite times with my family-- come for the food, stay for the fun: my family is silly, funny, and loving.

My extended family loves to Eat, too. I've rarely seen a spread like the ones my aunts throw when we have a family dinner. Last time I was home, they made eggplant parm with rolls for sandwiches, pasta with meatballs, and about a thousand delicious sides: bread, salad, green beans, asparagus. I'm pretty sure there was enough dessert for everyone to have their own entire dish: pumpkin cheesecake, a few types of pies, baklava, more varieties of cookies than people. Along with all this food is served a heaping serving of love and affection and a smaller serving of kookiness-- but without both, it wouldn't be my family.

One of my favorite, and one of my earliest memories is baking with my grandma: she lived in an in-law apartment in our house, and little Alisha used to go visit and watch her Bake. She would give me a little measuring cup full of coconut or raisins, and I would sit on a stool and watch her roll out pie crusts, make noodles and soups from scratch, her famous apple or pistachio pudding pies, and the German Pfeffernusse she made for my dad every November and kept in a pillowcase for a month to harden before giving them to him for Christmas. As she aged, she began to Bake less, and then one day came the announcement: "We are eating Grandma's last apple pie-- she's retiring from Baking." This was followed by the unofficial appointing of a new family baker: my brother. But in my heart, I took the title for myself and determined that I would take over her position.

When I Bake, especially Grandma's apple pie, I feel connected to her, like it's not just something I do, but something I do to show my love, and to remember her and her Love for me. Some day, maybe my daughter or son or granddaughter or nephew will come and watch me Bake while Eating coconut or raisins, and feel like they, too, are part of a grand tradition, connected to their past, and remember years after I'm gone, that they were Loved.

My fellow syncrobloggers:
Lori: Fish Food
David: The Meat of the Hunt
Jennifer: They Don't Call it the Big White Dress for Nothing
Katie: Bag of Cuties
Alaina: Feed Me, Seymour!

Uganda, Pt. 1

2011-03-12T06:38:00.002-05:00

Like I mentioned briefly in my last post, I'm spending a few months in Uganda, basically studying abroad. I meant to blog once a week: I've obviously failed so far. But I'll just quickly talk about some of the experiences I've had so far.

The day I arrived was election day, and it was all everyone talked about for a week or two. It took several days for all the results to be counted, and then there was a revote, and then it looked like there might be another, but in the end, after all the commotion, Museveni, the man who's been president for the past 20 years was re-elected, and the excitement died down. I guess all the uncertainty caused some economic instability, and we’ve been having power outages. There were happening almost every evening during the recount, but now happen only a few times a week. I’m told they normally don’t happen often at all, so hopefully we’ll get down to once a week soon, and then maybe once a month.

When I arrived, I was taken aback, because people use "You're welcome" as a greeting. So people would just walk up, stick out their hand, and say "you're welcome," and then I would wonder if I'd been rude and should be thanking them for something (being kind enough to say hello...?) But I eventually learned, and now it's cool. Another thing that startled me was one one girl I had just met asked if both my parents were still living. It's an odd question to ask someone you've just met, but apparently normal here.

We're quite close to the equator, so I expected it to be hot, but the weather is relatively mild. It averages probably 60 in the mornings and 80s or 90s during the hottest part of the day, and I'm told it's this way all year. Also, the days and nights are 12 hours long year round-- the days don't get shorter or longer.

There are 24 people in my class- 12 guys and 12 girls. Except for 2 of the girls who live with family, we all live in two big dorm rooms that are right next to the room where we have our lessons. There are several countries represented: we have two guys and a girl from UK, (the girl is married to a Ugandan though), 3 Americans (one guy and two girls), a girl from Cambodia, a girl from Kenya, a girl from Poland, 6 girls and 9 guys from Uganda. I think there are only two older than me… most are 18/19. But I feel like we all get along pretty well, and have been and will be able to learn from each other, so that’s good.

OK, I think that's enough for now. Stay tuned, though, for next time when I talk about the spider above my bed and how I'm getting used to cold showers! :)

From Darkness, Light

2011-03-05T09:00:00.010-05:00

Uganda is beautiful. It is wild and rolling and green and red and yellow. The flowers are beautiful, the trees are beautiful, the children are beautiful, the nights are beautiful. There are no street lights for miles, so they are completely dark. Not just that kind of darkness that makes it difficult to see where you’re walking without a flashlight, but the kind of darkness where you can’t see anything: no city lights in the distance, no television flickering in a neighbor’s window, headlights are rare. The area by my room is well lit, but it’s only a few steps away to get to the dark, dark night. And once you’re there, and you look up, you might be confused and think you are in space, because there are so many big, bright stars, and the moon is so large and luminous that you decide you must be dreaming.

North Carolina has some of the worst light pollution in the US. The stars you can see at night are dim, and seem far away. There’s light everywhere, so you don’t see the brightness of the stars, and the moon seems dull. In my mind, it stands in stark contrast to the dark nights and bright stars of Uganda.

When I was young, I was afraid of the dark. I would stay awake for hours, looking around my room, making sure that nothing was coming out of my closet. If I had to get up, I jumped as far away from my bed as I could: I knew something was hiding under it. I was so busy being scared, that I rarely noticed the moonlight or got a good night sleep. To this day, if I’m alone in a large house or walking by myself at night, I get a little nervous. After all, at night is when bad things happen, when the bugs and monsters and bad people come out to watch me silently, and maybe, to spring. But now, I have my TV and ipod to distract me, and my bright lights and loud security system to protect me.

The ironic thing is, the street lights I have for security, and the television I have to distract me from my fear of the dark, have taken the beauty of the night from me. Because of the light I have, I am unable to appreciate the stars. Sometimes when something uncomfortable happens to me, I’m so busy trying to get rid of it, that I forget to enjoy the good that it brings. Sometimes in my desire for everything to be perfect, I forget to enjoy the natural beauty around me. Sometimes, out of fear of change, I miss opportunities. Sometimes, I’m so worried about the darkness, I forget to see the light that inevitably accompanies it.

My fellow synchrobloggers:

Dark City, by Lori
How Are You? I Am Fine. by David
Into the Darkness, by Alaina
The Senior Scramble, by Katie
Megan
In the Dark, by Jennifer

Guilt of the Pen

2011-02-18T02:59:00.001-05:00

My dear readers, the following post is the first in an experimental synchroblog I am participating in with several friends. Our first subject is guilt; their blogs are linked below.

Incidentally, I am posting this from the Amsterdam airport as I await my connection to Uganda. Most of you are aware of these developments by now, as I exist to you as a real person, and not only on the internet. Regardless, a more detailed post on these developments will follow shortly.

I love reading. My mother, the daughter of a librarian, practically weaned me on books. She spent hours reading to me, and when the number of other children in the house made it difficult, I took up the mantle for myself. I read everything I could get my hands on: children's books, her magazines, the backs of cereal boxes, advertisements that came in the mail.

With all the information that was flowing through my young brain, you might expect that some of it would be forced to squeeze out my fingers, through a pencil, and find its way onto paper. Quite the opposite-- I developed an early aversion to writing of all types, and avoided it like some kids avoid spinach. I felt unsure of my writing skills, like someone who loved to eat but hated to cook. For some reason I didn't understand, this frustrated Mom. She was generally content to let me
have my own hopes and dreams for my future, but she always insisted I would be a writer. I believe her reasoning was that because I hated it so much, I would naturally end up doing it.

Knowing that my book-loving mom expected me to become a writer loomed in the back of my mind for a long time. Mom is an excellent storyteller, and has written stories of her own. Even though she'd never been published, I had a lot to live up to. In my preteens I tried to write several little things, and started a journal every year
(abandoned by April), and wrote essays for school-- all the while hating it and wondering why it was so difficult, why I didn't love it as I should. The feedback I received on my writing was generally positive, but I still felt nervous and unsure of my abilities.

My second semester in college, I got special permission to take a high level creative writing class. I figured that any class with the word "creative" in the title couldn't be terrible, and maybe it would open the door to the mystical land called Love Of Writing. I didn't learn to love it, but I was forced to write in a journal every day or fail the class. On the last day, the professor asked how many of us would continue to write in our journals regularly. I still hated writing, but adored him, and was proud of my consistent, painful words, so I raised my hand. That decision was followed by a summer of faithful-ish writing, followed by 7 years of regret associated with the word "journal." If I'm going to write, I want to be the best, but the number of amazing authors in the world and the subjectivity involved with this art intimidate me. I have some sort of freak mental block that makes me freeze if you put a blank paper in front of me.

In preparing to write this story, I mentioned to Mom the fact that she often told me I'd become a writer, and she had no idea what I was talking about. So now I realize that this is not the story of my guilt, after all. How often have I dreamed for those I love the success I am unable to attain? Is it possible, then, that my mother's desire for me to succeed at something she admired was misinterpreted by me as something that must be mastered to win her admiration? And now, I find that, all these years later, she isn't upset that I don't write for a living, or even regularly, and she admires me anyway. So perhaps, rather than this being a story about guilt, this is a story about love: a mother who gave it freely, and a daughter who is learning it for an art she once dreaded.

As promised, links to my friends' corresponding blog posts:
passionately pensive
Word Shepherd
nightsbrightdays
i write to be rid of things

Giving Double

2010-11-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

A few years ago for Christmas, my family decided to forego gifts and instead donate money in each others' names to several charitable organizations. It was a great idea, and I was especially proud of my youngest brothers' enthusiasm about our decision, but I must admit, it was a little disappointing not having gifts to open on Christmas morning. Since then, about this time each year, I begin to receive calls from my siblings asking whether we'll give gifts or donate, and I'm never quite sure how to respond... until now. This year, being a responsible world citizen doesn't mean we don't buy gifts-- it just means we're aware of what we're buying. This year, we give each other presents, and the money goes to assist those in need-- it's double giving, double awesome. Here are some great organizations to buy from:

Invisible Children works to free child soldiers in Uganda, and also funds schools there. I got my mom their Mend bag last year, and she loves it. They also have cool tee shirts and stuff for guys, who, let's face it, can be difficult to buy for.
http://store.invisiblechildren.com/

Made by Survivors is fair trade goods, but the cool thing about it is that everything is made by and bought from survivors of sex trafficking. Sometimes women who have been rescued from sex slavery can't find another way to support themselves, and end up selling their bodies again, so this is a great opportunity to help rescued women stay independent.
http://store.madebysurvivors.com/

Loveso- Love, Visit, Serve Orphans is another fabulous organization. They buy jewelry from a group of ladies in India, and sell it via their website. The proceeds are used to support orphanages in Ghana, Haiti, and India. That's cool, 'cause your money helps two groups, and you still get to give your gift-- triple giving! Oh man-- outta control. NOTE: it appears that right now, there is nothing for sale on their website. I'm not quite sure why not, but check back later, 'cause their jewelery is rockin!
http://www.lovoso.org/

charity:water is quite possibly my favorite non-profit. They've worked it out so that their overhead is covered privately, so everything you donate goes directly to building wells. I love that! I also love love love their water bottle- it's got a pop-up straw and is such a comfortable shape to hold. I got one for my brother a few years ago, and he loved it, too.
http://www.charitywater.org/shop/

These are just a few examples to inspire us. Do you know of a great charity that also has great gifts? Let me know in the comments.

i love mars

2010-11-20T17:17:00.000-05:00

i sometimes like to think that i must be able to do everything any man can do as well as him, or i can't be a strong, independent woman. of course, this thought often leads to disappointment and feelings of inadequacy, since i can do some things as well as some men sometimes, but never everything any man can do as well as him all the time.

last night, i attended a party at a friend's house. it was dark when i arrived, and i had never been there before, and when i pulled into the driveway i somehow popped my right front tire. i heard it pop, groaned, and immediately began planning how to fix the situation. well, i'm a strong independent woman, so no problem-- i'll just ask the host if i can leave my car here for the night, and get katie to give me a ride home. then tomorrow i'll have to get someone to drive me to the tire store, and then a ride back here, and then i'll change the tire and be on my way. my dad is one of those car guys, so he's taught me basic car maintenance-- changing a tire isn't a big deal, but i didn't want to do it that night. i hatched my plan and didn't really give it a second thought.

fast forward 5 hours. it's 2am, and my plan has been put into play. katie has agreed to give me a ride home, and i have another friend who's willing to give me a ride back tomorrow. great. as everything is coming together, micah asks what has happened. i tell him the situation and my great plan, and he asks, "do you have a spare tire? i can just fix it now". i explain that i am a strong capable woman, and that it's night, and i couldn't ask him to do it so late, and i'll just do it tomorrow, no biggie. he insists that he might as well just do it, and retrieves one of those little headlamps from his car-- his car!! who keeps a headlamp in their car? i have pens, extra napkins, and a swimsuit, and that's about it.

anyway, micah puts on his headlamp, heads over to my car, and in a matter of minutes has located the spare tire and the jack, jacked up the car, removed the old tire, and replaced it with the new one. all things that i could have done, mind you-- if i had an hour or two. once the tire is replaced it's discovered to be flat, but low and behold, daniel pulls a bike pump out of his car, and the two of them have my tire filled with air in no time at all.

what was i doing this entire time that micah and daniel were taking over my car care and freeing up my entire saturday? nothing. or rather, standing by in awe that these men had the supplies and the know-how to make this repair so quickly. i realized that no matter how much i want to be really good at fixing cars, and change my own tires, it's ok if i'm not the best, and it's ok if sometimes someone else does it for me-- especially if that someone is really good at it and doesn't mind.

growing up

2010-08-24T01:31:00.004-04:00

When I was a child, there was a certain part of me that pledged never to grow up, but I guess that happened before I understood the power of hormones. Nevertheless, that certain part forced me to keep running and playing silly games long after the normal tween has begun sauntering and swaggering and listening to pop music. I sometimes felt misunderstood by adults, and thought the only way to right this wrong was to avoid becoming one. I put the transition off as long as possible, and when it was forced on me, it took me a while to adjust to all the responsibility, and the decisions, and the bills, and the... grown-up-ness. I didn't particularly like being a kid, but I still hated growing up.

I turn 25 in October, and I might be having a tiny quarter life crisis, as i've just realized that not only am I not a kid, I'm not even near undergrad age anymore. In fact, I'm not even young 20s- no, my friends, this is the year I turn.... really old. I know it because I see little 2-year-olds that look at me with a blank stare, thinking I'm as old as their grandma, and because even teenagers- worshiped by youngsters the world over as having great experience and knowledge- seem young and, frankly, foreign.

But, surprisingly, I really like it. I really have no idea when i transitioned from begrudgingly accepting the responsibility of being an adult, to actually enjoying it, but it somehow happened. If you told me at 17 that I would be this happy at 25, I would think you were an idiot (I guess I imagined that, having already reached the prime of life, I could only go down hill from there...?) even as I realize that my body has an expiration date-- as the developing lines around my eyes remind me, gulp-- I realize that, as John Avery Whittaker has always proclaimed, "the best is yet to come", and I'm learning to embrace the future and enjoy the present. 'Cause it's a gift, blah, blah blah.

2010-05-11T09:27:00.004-04:00

I'm safe in Haiti. I saw some of the devastation in Port-au-Prince as we drove through from the airport, and we the guy in charge of some 20,000 of the refuges gave us a tour of the tent city. It's pretty rough, but apparently some of the people don't want to leave because it's better living accommodations than they had before the earthquake.

Now we're at a nice little resort in the mountains to the south of Port-au-Prince, in a town called Jacmel. We arrived late Saturday, and were able to do some scouting for the orphanage garden on Sunday.

We tried to start gardening yesterday, and did get a little tilling done, but then the rains came. At first it wasn't too bad, but then it started pouring. The structures are fine, but the boys were too scared to move back in, so they are staying in tents outside, with tarps held up by bamboo poles over them. The wind started knocking down the posts, and rain started coming in, so some of the younger members of our team started digging holes to hold the bamboo, and some of them dug a moat to keep the water from running down the hill and into the tents.

Summer travel plans

2010-05-04T21:58:00.002-04:00

An excerpt from a letter I wrote some friends:

As you may know, when I was 16 I had the opportunity to participate in a missions trip to an orphanage in Port-a-Prix, Haiti (in the northern part of the country). It was a fabulous experience, and one I've come to treasure: the country was beautiful, and the people I met were precious.

This year I again will be traveling to this country I love, again to an orphanage, but this time, my friend Aisha and I will be designing and teaching the kids there how to plant and care for an organic garden. We will be bringing seeds, some tools, etc, and working hard the whole time. The lady who runs the orphanage is a vegetarian, and I'm excited to be able to cook for them and swap some recipes, too :)

This will be a short trip: I will be leaving on May 8 (the day before Mother's Day, but I have her blessing!) and returning the 15th. If this seems like short notice, it is. I was asked to participate only two weeks ago, so everything happened very fast. I'm grateful that my job and life are such that I can make decisions like this quickly!

This trip has, indeed, sneaked up on me. I feel almost ill-prepared to be making this journey: life has been such a whirlwind since my decision to go. But as usual, I'm in awe at the kindness of my friends: I've had many people contact me eager to contribute money, toys, and words of encouragement and love. I feel privileged to know so many generous, good people, and the conversations, emails, and loot I've received in preparation for this trip have been marvelous. After all my travels last year, I wasn't expecting so much enthusiasm. So thank you, my dear friends. And that is all I can say. At this time. But keep an eye out for updates.

children

2009-10-14T22:26:00.003-04:00

I moved recently. There are lots of kids that live in my new complex. I always see them riding their bikes and yelling and laughing. They walk with that funny carefree kid swagger, and I know they are having grand adventures. I was awoken at 8am on Saturday to them playing baseball outside my window. I wasn't too crazy about that, but I'm glad they were having fun.

There are 2 girls that live 2 floors below me, on the ground level, and they have pitched a tent outside their house. I hear them giggling inside it as I walk by. A few days ago, I saw the older one outside selling stuff. She had shells, so I bought one for my room. Seeing her reminded me of when I was a kid, and used to do stuff like that. I used to bake cookies, load them in my wagon, and go around trying to sell them to the neighbors. My mom was nice enough to pay for the ingredients, and it's a good thing, because I never made enough to cover the costs. Another time I dragged a bunch of stuff out of our attic and tried to have a tag sale. I was like 10, but I made a sign and put it at the end of the road, and set all this stuff up in the yard. I probably made 5 bucks, after sitting out there all day. But I loved it. I'm not sure why. And this other girl loves it too, 'cause I saw her out there again yesterday.

some concert stories

2009-10-11T23:36:00.010-04:00

my cousin caleb took me to my first concert. we drove to a college campus somewhere in ct, and sat on these chairs in this auditorium, with some young people, and some old people. one of the bands had dreads and djembes, and the headlining band was waterdeep, and the funny thing is, i wasn't into it at all, but now i listen to waterdeep, and like them, and i think i would be really into that concert if i went today.

in high school and college i would go to these shows, and it was that loud, like, punky music and everyone would be in black and just standing there, smoking, in front of the stage, with their duct tape belts and their hair in their eyes, and their bored scowls, and i would try try try to be into it, and to think it was so great and fun, but then one day, when we had driven to fishkill, ny to see the huntingtons, i realized i just don't like that kind of music. it's really hard to understand the words, and the dancing is either nonexistent or slightly violent, and so i stopped going.

last year, or maybe this, i went to a lake/half-handed cloud concert inside a little restaurant/bookstore called skylight/nightlight, and it was wonderful. there were chairs pulled in a half circle around a small stage, and christmas lights draped over the books, and the band was made up of 3 people and maybe 12 instruments: drums, keyboard, bass, guitar, but also mandolin, xylophone, and bells, and their voices harmonized beautifully, and it seemed like the band couldn't think of anywhere on earth they would rather be, and i was in heaven. but i had to leave early, because i had a film shoot at 4:30 the next morning and i was very tired, and i remember, as i left, i was high on the glory of the night, and forgot to turn my headlights on. so a cop pulled me over-- i think he thought i was drunk-- but he didn't give me a ticket, so i continued along on my music high.

a few weeks ago, katie and steven went out busking, so i joined them. 3 sweet drunk guys stopped, and insisted that she sing something she'd written, and when she tried to protest that she hadn't written anything, steven told her to sing "the plane song she'd written", so she told him to play, and agreed to sing. the boys declared her a "female jason mraz", and a local radio dj told her he "could tell" that she'd written it and to come by his studio and record for free any time, and the funny thing is, it was a jason mraz song, and we laughed so hard, and now love to tell the story.

and here are some pictures from that night.

also, i forgot to say, the dj called someone and had them listen to katie sing over the phone.

katie is silly

2009-09-23T23:36:00.004-04:00

Scene: Katie is sitting at her computer, I'm on mine, across the room. It's 11:30pm

Alisha:
hello
how ya doing?
haven't seen ya in a while

Katie:
i'm really good. actually i'm sky diving right now
kind of busy

Alisha:
so i thought i'd say hello
oh
ok
that's crazy
well

Katie:
flying through the air

Alisha:
hope you're having fun

Katie:
that's me

Alisha:
ok
bye
oh wait...
it's dark

Katie:
yes?
i know, i'm not sure when to pull the shoot
chute

Back in the USA

2009-07-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

After about 21 hours of travel, our team arrived safe and sound back in the states Monday night. We had a few close calls-- our flight was overbooked in Germany, and then one of the girls didn't receive a boarding pass for the leg from Philly to RDU and made it onto the plane just in time. We all did make it back: tired, hungry, and dirty, but unable to wipe the smiles off our faces.

We spent a week in Transnestria building a playground, and it was a hard week. The playground was much more than just cutting and hammering boards-- before we could even get to that point, we had to sand and stain every board by hand. So the playground took much longer than expected. But we had a great team that worked hard and got along great. I know that we owe the success of this trip to the many prayers that were offered on our behalf. Thank you so much.

The weather got up to 100 degrees in the middle of the day. We had one person who's job it was to distribute water. We all drank out of the same cup. That was stretching. I usually don't mind sharing, but the thought of all that saliva.... eww.

The kids and moms at the orphanage were terrific. The kids were sweet and well behaved, and the moms were hospitable and generous. They cooked porridge, soups, salads, rice, and fish for us every day and it was always ready on time. There was one little girl, Carolena, about 3, whom I totally wanted to adopt. But I didn't. At least not yet. She has beautiful big green eyes and speaks only Russian and doesn't understand that I don't understand her. And she tried to give me her doll when I left. So sweet.

This week I'm unpacking and posting pictures on Facebook. My Germany pictures are up, and I expect to have the rest up by Sunday for your viewing pleasure.

Thank you again for all your love and prayers. This really couldn't have happened without you. My heart is bursting with joy. Whoa, that sounded really corny.

ONE MORE THING...

I have the wonderful opportunity to go to Ethiopia in 2 weeks to film the building of a well. Your continued prayers for this project are greatly appreciated. If it's OK, I'm going to continue to send out updates about that.... let me know if you don't want to hear about it.

Moldovan Adventure

2009-07-15T23:09:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I fly out into the wild blue yonder! I'm headed to Moldova for 2 weeks on a missions trip with my church. We'll be working with orphans, building a playground, and who knows what else! Expect updates and pictures.

My sweet friend Monique is kind enough to give me a ride to the airport, so the adventure begins at 10:45 when she picks me up. We'll be to the airport by 11:30, and my flight leaves at 1:30. We'll fly off into the night, arriving in Frankfort, Germany, at 7am local time, and have a layover until 3pm, so we'll have a chance to get some site seeing in! Then onto Chisnau, the capitol. And then.... who knows? But it'll be great.

Love!

first sprouts!

2009-04-26T10:14:00.002-04:00

I am happy to report that butter beans, peas, romaine lettuce, cukes, and one pot of flowers have time little sprouts. They are still so small that I don't think they would show up on camera (well, probably on my SLR, but I am not getting it out right now). When they get a little bigger, I will post pictures! YAAAAY!

Garden

2009-04-24T23:44:00.004-04:00

I have a garden. It is not in the ground, it is in pots. I am so excited. Aisha gave me all the seeds, and even a few seedlings, and I planted them (Rose and Caelia helped) and have been watering them. The seedlings are growing bigger. I hope the seeds grow. I feel like a proud mama, just waiting for my babies to show the world how wonderful they are. And then I will eat them.

Family Communications

2009-04-23T17:30:00.005-04:00

Being the oldest in my family, and having been more or less out of the home for 10 years, I often am a unaware of what is happening at my parents' home. There's the occasional email or phone call, but in general communication has been a little sparse. My parents have been too busy with my younger siblings and my siblings too busy growing up to write often.

For the first time ever, my parents are home with only their 3 youngest children, and as a result, there has been more communication than ever. My dad has been sending out a daily mass email to the 5 of us scattered throughout the country, and my mom has taken to typing a mass letter, hand writing an individual note, and mailing them off to us. That, combined with my sister's handmade cards (which I receive almost weekly) and the other random little letters I get [Matthew sent me an envelope full of Double Bubble, with a handwritten letter on each that spelled out a message] has caused me to be excited about checking the mail for the first time in years, and made me feel like we're all a little closer, despite our physical distance.

2009-03-14T16:33:00.003-04:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the majority of the people I bump into are transplants from another area of the country, which is how it happened that I was at lunch with a fellow New Englander (Katie) and a New Jersey girl (her friend Kristen- a short girl with brown hair and a kind smile). We decided to eat at the Nantucket Grille, which had a few paintings of the sea around, but was rather lacking in authentic decor (there was not a single buoy on the walls, lobster net, or cobweb on the walls).

The other girls had lobster bisque and clam cowder and declared both delicious. I was scandalized that 2 of the waiters had on powder blue UNC tee shirts (including our waiter). Katie mentioned that, despite his shirt, she didn't think he was southern, and we began to debate where his accent could be from. I suggested Rhode Island, and Kristen asked, incredulously, "Long Island!?" We had a good laugh at the thought as I explained "No way- I'm sure he's not. We would be able to tell". Well, my friends, you guessed it: he was, and we had a nice laugh at ourselves when we found out.

The paint is still drying!

2009-03-13T22:28:00.004-04:00

This was started for my painting class and is somewhat in the style of Klimpt. I'm pleased at how it turned out, and surprised that I'm pleased! And I must add that the colors are a little brighter in person.

Lent

2009-02-25T23:26:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of Lent. Last year for Lent I gave up movies, and it was hard, but I felt good about it. This year, I couldn't think of anything to give up (oatmeal? cleaning my room? working out? hmmm....)

Lent is a time for us to remember the sacrifice of Christ, and to somehow participate in it: perhaps develop a greater appreciation for it. Of course, Christ does tell us that to follow him, we must deny ourselves. I think that the practice of denying oneself a luxury for 40 days can be a productive exercise. But that it not why Christ came. He came to "give life, more abundantly".

Might it not sometimes (and this is not for everyone-- I don't mean to disrespect those who glean meaning form the traditional Lent) --might it not sometimes be be appropriate to participate in a habit of giving life to others instead of denying ourselves? What better way to show gratitude to Christ for his gift of life than to show gratitude to our friends? With this in mind I have decided to attempt to send a letter of thanks to a different person each day of Lent. I almost hesitate to announce my intention for fear that it will ruin the joy for those who receive a note, or sadden those who don't, but since I'm quite excited about this idea, I've chosen to anyway.

And now I end so that I can write my first note...

Welcome, 2009

2009-01-25T19:43:00.002-05:00

I told myself that this year, I wasn't going to have goals, so that way I couldn't disappoint myself. But then I realized I should just have achievable goals. So, tonight I took a big piece of paper, wrote the following, and taped it next to my bed:

Goals for 2009

- Enter 5 film festivals
-2 short films (directed! written?)
ideas: abortion, room for 1 more [story ideas I already have]
-52 blog entries [this is the first-- a little behind already!]
-books for sibs
-finish [reading] 12 books
-be creative! write down ideas!
-be productive! LOVE people- remind everyone they're AMAZING!
-be beautiful! be happy! know Christ!

2008-08-31T21:31:00.002-04:00

I just came across a list of "things to do before I die": swimming in Greece, giving aid in Lebanon, etc. When I think of doing these things, I always picture myself "there" and forget what it takes to get there. But I've wanted to travel/missions/aid work for a long time and I really just need to do it. I talked to my brother about how I always put things off: "I don't have enough money/ I have a good job/ someone expects such and such of me..." LAME EXCUSES!!!

I've wanted to travel forever, and been putting it off for various dumb reasons for 6 years, so I'm going to do it. But it is just a tad scary.

A Walk with Rose and Calia

2008-06-26T23:50:00.002-04:00

Riding my bike to the bank

2008-06-23T23:15:00.008-04:00

Stories in One Sentence

2008-06-18T12:40:00.005-04:00

I did it because it's quicker than writing a full entry, and there hasn't been an entry in a while.

The weakness is in my brain; my heart is perfectly healthy.

I am amazed by my own capacity to forget.

The toothless old man washes cars, but I wonder if he owns one?

I forgot that the glasses I ordered will match yours.

The sticker that says 'you rock' is still on my computer.

In Praise of Red Shoes, and Spring.

2008-02-25T18:55:00.004-05:00

Ah, my dear readers, like many women, I have many shoe stories, and like many women, over the years there have been several pairs that have been dear to my heart. I remember my first pair of jellies which I kicked off and lost inside Costco, never to be found my me or my parents (what can I say? I was a soccer player, I had a strong kick), and I remember the Keds I was so found of and kept until they practically fell off, and I remember my first pair of Converse, and many other beloved shoes, but I must admit, I have a special affection for red shoes. I remember my red sneakers, which I wore until they broke, and then I was without red shoes and so sad for years. Many times I searched for suitable red shoes, but failed in my quest. Over Christmas I purchased this pair of red shoes, and they have quickly risen to the rank of "favored". I wore them today, and it was delightful to look past my drab tan top, my brown pants, and see these wonderful red shoes peaking out. Honestly friends, I can't remember the last time I looked at my feet so often. Hooray for red shoes- where would we be without them?

Since we are on the subject of wonderful things, spring is coming! I experienced the first of, hopefully many, wonderful spring nights. The sun was setting, slowing, like a beaten foe who retreats into the darkness, the birds chirped the praises of victorious spring, and I saw the first small blooms on the neighbors bush. Fear not, friends! Warm weather is on it's way!

news-

2008-02-16T20:21:00.004-05:00

hey loyal readers,
just a quick update:
1. I'm dying of the flu (not really, but it feels like it)
2. my apartment flooded a week ago and I'll be out of it for 1-2 months. I'm staying with some friends down the road.
3. I never wrote about this, but I crashed my Honda the Sunday after Thanksgiving, then I got a crappier car, and it died last week, so I'm car-less again. Ah well, such goes life. At least I'll get my insurance moolah back.
4. Oh, wait! Not yet, 'cause right before my house flooded, I dropped my phone battery in orange juice, causing it to die, causing me to order one off the internet yhat takes two weeks to get here. But wait! There's more:
5."Hour" was accepted into "The All-American Film Festival". Hooray!
6.We finished shooting the fishie video the night before the pipe broke. All our sets were ruined, but we didn't need them anyway! WOO!
7. Lots of good friends pulled together to help. BIG THANKS to LAURELIN TATE, SIMON O"REILLY, COURTNEY MACDONALD, PHILIP KENNEDY, JEFF TERREL, LINDSAY BUTLER, ERIN GUBITZ, MAGGIE WEST, AJIT ANTHONY PREM, MY FAMILY and of course, APU. Even though I think only like two of you read this, you are awesome. Sorry if I missed anyone.
8. Lastly, and most importantly, what shall we learn from this? I don't know yet, but I do know that, "The lovingkindness of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning: great is his faithfulness."

There you go folks. That is the conclusion of the matter! I rest my hope in these words and sleep.

Snow

2007-12-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

It felt like snow today when I walked to work.
I felt it again when I went to lunch.
I heard it in the crunch of the leaves and I sensed it when the wind nipped my cheeks.
I saw it in the faces of the people I passed: the pretty woman with the big, surprised eyes (she lives in the south and is not used to the cold), the red fingers that clutched her coat close to her body; the cute young couple that held hands and walked close together for warmth; the smile of the old gentleman as he remembered, perhaps, the snow of his youth, or Christmas long ago, or maybe just thought about how marvelous it was to be old and walking about waiting for snow, just as I was thinking about how wonderful it is to be young and walking about waiting for snow.

I'll be the first to tell yo uI hate the cold, but the delightful thing about snow is that it makes everything stop, slow down or get quieter. People start to look inward and as a result are friendlier and happier. At least, that is my opinion.

It probably won't snow for a while, but even the reminder of snow can be beautiful.

A Thanksgiving Tale.

2007-11-24T11:55:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you who don't know, I come from a very large, very loud family. Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays, because that's where we all get to see each other. And not just for that one day, oh no no no. Thanksgiving lasts 2-4 days, or until we start tearing each other's heads off. Just kidding. Kinda. :) Anyway, in our family, Thursday is Thanksgiving, and Friday is Lebanese Day, during which we hear stories of the aunts and uncles growing up and Grandma and Grandpa (who are no longer with us) and we eat Lebanese food until it comes out our ears.

This year was a little different because we had a lot of young people who aren't related to us. Usually we have some older people, but this year some of the cousins brought friends. Good times. We played stand-up leapfrog, made a human pyramid 5 stories high, and went for a walk in the woods. We spent Thursday night at Chris and Melissa's, and the next night at Courtney and my house.

Me and my sissy. She's always a good time.

Mason and Nick playing some Middle Eastern game. I don't remember what it was called, but it was fun!

me and Uncle Dan.

Christian and me at Melissa's.

me and Christian.

Tales of Carrboro, #1

2007-11-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

I just walked 3 feet behind a guy for about a block because he smelled really good: like spicy and musky or something. He kept looking over his shoulder slightly paranoid, but I didn't care.

There are posters for the Carrboro Film Festival everywhere. It's pretty exciting. Have I mentioned my film is playing?

Here is a picture of me with Apu, the cutest, sweetest, bestest doggie in the whole wide world.

Wishing you a cheerful weekend, my dear readers.

My job

2007-11-15T17:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Reader, you deserve my apologies for the recent lack of updates. Here's a quickie:

I've been working full time at Figure 8 Films, and it's... basically marvelous. It reminds me of "Memoirs of a Geisha", because in that book, apprentice geisha have an "older sister" who teaches them everything she knows, and just generally looks out for them. They're really sweet and selfless, and the two girls who are training me, Bergan and Maggie, are super kind and really inspiring and wonderful. They always try to take opportunity to teach me. Today, (and a lot of days, actually), Maggie let me sit with her and showed me how to fill out logs and submit them to Discovery, and whatnot.

I know it seems hard to believe, but every single person there is really nice. Bill, the head honcho man, loves dogs, and tonight he called me upstairs to his office to show me pictures of the new puppy he's gonna pick up from Maine later this year. Ajit is the techie guy, and he's funny and a lot of fun, and he sometimes brings his cutie little doggie named Apu (is that how you spell it? After the Simpsons guy). We always have a good time.

That's it. That's my work update for now.

Post.

2007-11-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

Well, my dears. today is November 6th, the first Tuesday in November, and that means 3 things:

1. election day:
I haven't yet registered my car in NC, but I have somehow managed to register to vote, which is awesome. However, election day snuck up on me and I didn't research the canedetes... canadites... you know... the people running for office... soooo.... I just didn't vote.

2. my dad's birthday:
It seems to me that my dad's birthday and election day fall on the same day like every other year, but I'm sure that can't possibly be the case. I don't know, maybe it's because of daylight savings. Anyway, happy birthday Dad. Enjoy this year, 'cause next year you're officially old.

3. fall is in full swing. In honor of that occasion, I took a fall picture. Here it is.

Well, dear readers, all those wonderful things aside, it has been a long, long time sice I've given you a real update, and a long time since I've updated my sink art, too. Sink art shall be updated soon, but I'll give a brief short update and a funny story I've been saving.

Funny story first.

I was in my shower, getting ready for bed at about 12:30 pm, when I looked up and saw on my ceiling, just chillin' there like she owned the place, the grandmommie of all cockroaches. It was really scary. So I hopped out of the shower and grabbed a jar. I tried to catch it in the jar, but it ran into my shower caddy. At this point, I grabbed my cell phone and began frantically dialing all the guys I could think of. I started with my neighbor Vince, then Marco and Christain, but none of them answered, so I called Jeff next. The thought of coming over at 12:30 to kill a cockroach made him laugh, but I finally got him to agree (he lives really close). After I hung up, Vince called and told me he was home, so I asked him to come over. When I heard the knock, I ran down, opened the door, and pushed him up the stairs. He kept stalling, and I was afraid the cockroach would go away, so I asked him if he wanted me to call Jeff to do it. "No, because my sister and I had a rule that if one didn't want to do it the other one had to." Long and short, Vince was a hero and put it in the toilet, told me I was crazy, and left. And that is one of many reasons I'm so glad Vince is my neighbor.

Ok, I have several more things to update about, but not tonight. :)

Arvind and me....

2007-11-01T00:50:00.000-04:00

...hanging out on Halloween... eating applesauce... and proving my worth as a director... !! :) check me out on imdb, baby!

A Tounge-in-Cheek Description of My Driving Woes

2007-10-11T23:31:00.000-04:00

I think there there must be a class called "Bad Driving 101" that North Caroliners have to take before they get their licence. I'll take NYC driving any day over Chapel Hill/Durham driving.

First of all, they drive super slow. And it takes them forever to start driving. If they're sitting at a red light, they wait until it turns yellow to decide to start driving. Then they go mad slow.

Secondly, they stop at ALL YELLOW LIGHTS. If one turns yellow while they're under it, they slam on their brakes, back up, and wait for it to turn green. Then they wait for it to turn yellow before they start driving.

Lastly, and most annoying, they think it's acceptable to wave, smile, honk, and mouth words to people in other cars. Today I drove from my house to Chapel Hill and back and I had --- I am not making this up --- I had SIX different guys do one of the above mentioned atrocities to me. It's a 15-minute drive, tops, each way, which works out to an average of one obscene gesture every five minutes. I say obscene because it's degrading and rude and it makes me feel like a piece of meat and it ruins my day. If I was walking around naked, I could understand, but I'm when I'm sitting in my car fully clothed and this happens, it makes me want to cry. Then you get to sit next to this person at a red light and then a green light, and it's about as awkward as getting rejected at a movie and then having to sit through it with that person.

Well, dear readers, these are my complaints about NC driving --- at least all I shall present today. There's more, but I shall save it for another day. I'm going to lie in bed and read..... good night!

A Discussion... and Result

2007-09-29T02:22:00.000-04:00

What a busy day. I went to work at 9, but felt sick, so they let me go home early (like 10:30). I laid in bed and watched "Sixteen Candles", then went downstairs and sang songs with Courtney for an hour. It was sooo special. Her friend Christain wondered in during, stayed for a while, ate some of my chocolate, and left.

I worked and then hung out with Melissa. We went to Open Eye Cafe, where I had tea and some delish chocolatey thingy and she had a glass of wine and nibbles of my chocolate. We had such a wonderful discussion about the devaluazation of women...

Conclusions:

Causes:
~Abuse (sexual, emotional, physical)
~Media ("this is what the perfect woman looks like")
~Men who don't treat women with respect (goes along with abuse)
~In our opinion, the biggest reason: women who don't know they have value and so don't demand it.

What we (Melissa and Alisha) can do to combat this awful epidemic.
~Tell women how beautiful (internally) and valuable they are. "You are perfect the way you are"
~Listen. Give women value by listening to them.
~Find our security/value in something greater than this earth. Constanty return to that for recogntion.
~Be willing to give help, but also to take it.
~Be the change we want to see.

It was a marvelous little talk. I absolutely adore talking to Melissa. These are things I think about and bother me, but it was amazing to find someone who agrees and would discuss it with me.

Hot Fuzz

2007-09-22T18:57:00.001-04:00

I have NetFilx, and I somehow ordered Hot Fuzz. When I got it I almost didn't watch it 'cause it looked dumb, but I ended up sticking it in to check it out, and I'm glad I did. I felt that the characters were developed well. There were a lot, maybe 20, but they weren't confusing. The humor was anti-cliche: maybe 3 times I thought, "Oh, they're gonna do that clich thing here..." and they didn't, so that was nice. I also liked the way it was edited. The match cut was used effectively several times, sometimes in very funny ways. I won't say it was the best movie ever, but I definately came away feeling stimulated rather than like I just wasted 2 hours of my life.

Happy birthday, Bilbo Baggins!!

2007-09-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

Well, boys and girls, today marks the 70th anniversery of the first publishing of "The Hobbit", a simply marvelous book, which, in my opinion, everyone should read sometime between the ages of 12-15. And then every few years. It's written by JRR Toilken, a good friend of CS Lewis, one of my absolute faves, and the author of "The Chronicles of Narnia", (another excellent series, which I grew up listening to my parents read). Anywho, "The Hobbit is all about the adventures of Bilbo, and Gandalf, and their dwarf friends who are on an adventure to find "the treasure under the mountain". It's a funny, exciting book, which is also a delight to listen to on cd as you paint your garage, as I found out last summer. That's it for tonight's ramble, except to say, Hooray for Bilbo Baggins!!!

Article:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/09/dayintech_0921

That's it; I'm switching to Visa

2007-09-21T11:37:00.000-04:00

Days in a row I've been awakened by a certain lady's call: 3

Days she's asked me to do something: 2

Days I've said yes: 1

Amount of sleep I've lost: priceless

I might have a real job!

2007-09-18T13:22:00.000-04:00

There's this place in downtown Carrborro that I always walk by on my way to the Market. it's called Figure 8 Films, and I always think I should apply there. Today I was driving around, and thought about that place and how much I hate my job and I want a real job. So I talked myself into driving over there and asking them some questions. When I walked in there was a reception desk but no receptionist. It was really awkward. I almost left, but decided that it wasn't a big deal, the worst they could do is tell me to get out and make a mean face, so I followed the sound of a girl's voice into the conference room. She was startled but nice and didn't kick me out. We talked and she said they're hiring and for me to come back next Tuesday to work so they can see if I mesh well with them. I think I will; I met a couple of people and they all seem nice. I'm super excited. Even if they decide they don't want me to work there, I'm proud of myself for being bold and doing something I have never ever considered doing before.

oohh, girls just wanna have fu-un!

2007-09-18T00:20:00.000-04:00

me and Melissa taking a break from our art night. We get together sometimes, like maybe twice a week, and do artsy things together. Tonight she's working on some water color painting she's doing for her mom, and I'm messing around with the sound for my movie. I'm almost done editing it. Anyway... here's what happens when you give these little girls access to a camera.....

Ouchy.

2007-09-16T01:17:00.000-04:00

We have this marvelous little popsicle shop in downtown Chapel Hill called Loco Pops. Courtney and I go there as often as we can, because the flavors are amazing. We're talking White Chocolate Mocha, Tangerine Cardimum, Mexican Chocolate, and so many more yummy flavors. Today we walked there and I got my mouth frozen to a popsicle. \. The popsicle froze to my tounge, and then got lose from my tounge and stuck to my lips. I began going "mmmmmmmm!" frantically and pointing to the popsicle, all the while entertaining thoughts of the paramedics having to be called to seperate us. The guy behind the counter whipped out his super hero costume, "Don''t worry, miss, stay calm; it happens all the time!" There were like 6 people in the store,a nd they all started laughing, especially Courtney, and I couldn't say anything. I eventually broke away with blood on my popsicle and a sore lip. It was just like the little kid in "A Christmas Story" who got his tounge frozen to a pole. My lip is still swollen.

Also, I got a new dress today. Someone made it out of a pillowcase. I'm so inspired to do the same.

Screwdriver Adventure

2007-09-12T19:40:00.000-04:00

I had my hair up in a shower cap, doing a hair treatment, when I heard a knock on the door. I ran downstairs and discovered my neighbor needing to borrow a screwdriver, "My son locked me out of the the house again; I promise I'll bring it back". Said neighbor has borrowed things before and not brought them back until asked so I was hesitant, but obliged. I figured it would only be a minute. Five mintutes, ten minutes, no screwdriver. Finally, fifteen minutes, and I headed off across the parking lot, looking for all the world like an old gramma, with my hair in a pink shower cap and my big red dress. I'm sure she took so long to answer my knowck because she looked out the window and spent a few minutes laughing. But I got my screwdriver, and you know what they say: all's well that ends well.

A Big Update

2007-09-03T01:55:00.000-04:00

Well, this was going to be a big update, because it was going to have photos and a video, but I don't think I can upload video from my apple. so no video. Oh well, your loss. :) But the title stays. Anyway, guess what the movie's about. Here's 2 clues:
1: It has to do with a previous post.
2:

Look who came to visit me today! He was so smart! I said, "let me steal a piece of your soul with my camera!" And he followed the camera with his eyes. Praying Mantis are the best insect ever....well, maybe next to ladybugs....

AHHH!! Run away, Mantis, before the scary creature eats you!

In conclusion, we just got new neighbors, and they have kids. Hooray!

The War At Home.

2007-09-02T01:15:00.000-04:00

Interesting. This is what "Who Killed The Electric Car?" said too. I could kick those car execs and lawmakers. Click Here.

Artists, Puppets, and Fish

2007-08-29T17:15:00.000-04:00

First of all, let me say I am thrilled to have recently been referred to as a 'starving artist'. It was possibly the most excitng moment of my life thus far. :) Good times.

Sunday night I attended a puppet play called "A Shoe For Your Foot". It was incredible. Here are a few pictures. They aren't very good 'cause we were in the back and I was too into the production to get up and take pictures. I am so inspired.

The last part (which was too dark to photograph) --my favorite part-- was shadow puppets. Keep your eyes peeled for a shadow puppet show coming probably sometime this week. I'm in pre-production on that project. Anyway, pictures.

This last picture I have is a picture Courtney took of our dead fish before she flushed them away. Yesterday she bought 5 fish and a snail (named Fergo), and today we have one fish and a snail (still named Fergo). The other 4 have died. These two were the first to go. Rest in peace, fishies.

Zoe's Blue Harvest....

2007-08-26T01:06:00.000-04:00

.... is the working title of my movie which we shot today. I am so thrilled; 8 days ago I didn't even have a script, bu everything came together really nicely. Now we start in post-production... Here's some pictures from the shoot"

Creative Moments

2007-08-22T06:36:00.000-04:00

I haven't written in a while, but it's because I've been inspired and creative. I started a second blog, dedicated to my "Sink Art". Check it out: www.sinkart.blogspot.com.

I'm also getting ready to shoot my first non-school related short film this Saturday. I'm really excited. Laurelin is helping me produce it, and she's been really encouraging about the project. I still need a name, but it's about time, and how children and adults relate differently to it. I hope it's awesome.

There's a lot of ideas floating around in my head, but I'm too busy to write them right now. I'm hoping to take a photography class this semester. I just have to sign up.

My day off went by so quickly. I hang out way too much. And have way too much fun.

Joy to all!

Get your Lebon-on!

2007-08-15T22:06:00.000-04:00

Courtney and I had a Lebonese party last night, and it was a huge success. We spent all day making Lebonese food, and had about 20 people ove, and it was all gone. It was a good time for sure.

sweet old ladies

2007-08-09T21:17:00.000-04:00

The sweetest little old women ever came into Sage today. She was beautiful, with her white hair and blue eyes and smile wrinkles. She chatted with me and Melissa and told us all about herself. She had eye surgery last month and had just gone back for her check-up and she couldn't believe how many wrinkles she had and she wnated to get a face lift. We thought she was beautiful and told her so. We talked about skin care and the sun, and she was so cute with her floppy straw hat. She told us she used to be a stage actor in the 50s and we talked about CT (she said it's beautiful and she doesn't meet many people from there). It was a marverlous meeting and I hope I get to see her again.

hair

2007-08-08T05:40:00.000-04:00

I don't think my hair has been this long for at least 10 years. I really like having long hair.

Some People Are So Nice

2007-08-04T02:45:00.000-04:00

I've been working on this project, "The Rejects" (meettherejects.com) for a few weeks now, and we're shooting tomorrow. I'm the prop master, but in true Alisha fashion, I waited until tonight to get all the props. One of the props is a business card. I had a jpeg, but I needed to go to Kinkos and get it printed on cardstock. Other stuff kept coming up, so by 9:30, when I got there, stuid Kinko's was closed. Who's ever heard of a Kinko's closing before midnight? That's so dumb. But, once again, in true Alisha fashion, I decided to make the most of a bad situation by finding something to eat. I headed to the Starbucks next door, where I proceded to complain to the tow very nice people about how dumb Kinkos is, and they listened very compassionately. The guy told me about how you can text message Google from your phone and get info. about stuff (like the next cloest Kinkos), and the lady gave me a piece of rasberry cake on the house. It made my night so much better. Those people are seriously my heros, because they are doing what they can to make the world a nicer place, and not just talking about it. Hooray for them! Hooray for me 'cause I got to meet them! Hooray for Starbucks! Ok, I think I had too much coffee, actually. I'm a tad hyper....

But before I go, I have a funny story. Greg, the line chef at Sage, is this bigg meat and potatoes Southern guy through and through. He cooks the veggies and tofu, but he doesn't eat them. Today he told me that I should make a movie about myself and how much I eat, 'cause I'm always asking him for food. Then he tried to convince me I should start eating sugar cereal and meat and greasy Southern foods so i wouldn't get hungry. I told him I feel better when I eat healthy and he told me it's all in my mind. Silliness.

That's it, dear readers. tomorrow is a crazy day.

This little girl is a camera hog!

2007-08-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

I was just looking at all these pictures of me and other people, and I am such a camera hog! I always take up like 2/3 to 3/4 of the picture! You should never take a picture with me.

Fun day, fun pics

2007-08-03T03:27:00.000-04:00

Tonight was so much fun!! Christina came over for dinner (we had yummy wraps) and hung out with me and Courtney. Later Laurelyn and LaToya came over and the 4 of us headed over to the Carrborro Greenspace, which is that super cool swimming pool movie venue that I wrote about in a previous post. My friend Melissa whom I work with came with her friend Erin and Gurtrude (Erin's baby), and we had tons of chocolate and some cupcakes and yummy food and everyone there was so laid back. The movie started about an hour late but everyone was cool about it and hing out and talked. Like I said, it was chill: just what I needed, fo' sure.

I'm bringing sexy way back, boys and girls.

2007-07-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't updated in a long time 'cause my internet's been down, but I just recieved my very own "Man Catching Kit" handpicked by my very dear and wonderful friend Crystal. Here's the result:

A Marvelous Sunday

2007-07-16T02:17:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to a local film fest called "Hi Mom!" It was a little funny because I'd already seen one of the movies they showed. But Christina meet me and we had fun.

This morning as I was leaving the house for church, running a little late, my neighbor Vince greeted me and asked me if I was on my way to church and if he could come. So that was fun. We had a rousing discussion the whole way there, which may have been partly responsible for me getting lost. But we eventually found it, so it's all good. After church, a group of us including Courtney, Christina, Marco, Vince, myself and some others met at a local park for lunch. It was short, but a good time. I meet this guy, Bob? Bill? something like that who works in DC but lives in Chapel Hill (the neighboring town). He lives in DC 5 days a week and here 2 days a week. But I guess it works for him.

After that, I chit-chatted with Courtney for a while, then watched Garden State, which I'd never seen but everyone always talks about. I liked it a lot. It reminds me a lot of The Graduate, both the shots and the idea of this young guy who's not really sure what he wants from life, but knows he doesn't want what his parents have, and in the end decides all he needs is love. So, in a way I feel like it's the same message for a new generation, just with new actors.

My movie finished, I walked with Courtney and Marco to the local co-op and back, showed Christina how to take in some clothes, and baked some banana bread and cookies. Arg. I'm so domestic. Shoot me someone. Courtney had some friends over and we all hung out. Good times.

And I wish you, too, good times, dear reader. Cheers!

Long overdue update.

2007-07-14T18:30:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from The Jewelry Box wrap party. From top: the cake that made it all worth it (just kidding!), Laurelin (grip) and me, LaToya (hair and make-up) and me, Raynna (producer). It was a good time. That was Moday night.

Tuesday night Aravind (the DP fpr Jewelry Box) invited Laurelin and me over for dinner. We were supposed to be there around seven , but I wanted to bring my car to the garage on the way there. We ended up having to wait (in the rain) a loooong time for the stupid tow truck to get there. He was an hour late, after he told us it'd take an hour to get there, but we finally got the car to the garage, then got lost on the way to Aravind's house, and finally go tthere at 10, only 3 hours late. Aravind had made us all this marvelous Indian food and had it waiting the whole time, and he was so sweet about the whole thing, as was Laurelin. We ended up staying there until like 4, just watching movies, eating, and talking, even though the other two had stuff to do the next day.

Wednesday Mr. Mechanic called me, and informed me that it would be $600 to fix my car. I talked to Daniel (my mecanic brother) and my dad, who talked to Mr. Mechanic and told him to fix it. I also called the owner of Sage Vegetarien Cafe, who told me to come in Friday at 2:30 for an interview. So I was really hoping my car would be fixed on time.

Thursday afternoon just as I sat down to plot the bus route to Sage Cafe (just in case!) the mecanic called and told me that my car was ready and it'd only be $200 to fix, so that was super exciting and thanks to everone who prayed for my car situation because God definately answered. I called Laurelin and she very graciously came and picked me up and brought me to get my car.

Thusday night Christina and I drove my car to this totally awesome hippie place to see "Who Killed the Electric Car?" It was a totally cool experience. So, we're driving down this normal-looking residential road, when all of a sudden we see tons of hippie cars parked on the side of the road (you know, old station wagons with 'ross perot' stickers all over them). We also see a big board with "Movie Tonight" handwritten in big letters. So we figure that's the place, park and head down the driveway, expecting to find some kind of outdoor venue, or at least a sign. Nope. Only an old farmhouse with a woman on a cellphone on the porch. we started to walk around to the back when she motioned toward the woods. It looked like just woods, but we headed over and discovered a path, marked with candles, which went through the woods, over a bridge, and eventually led to an empty old swimming pool which was full of hippies, both young and old, who were watching the movie. It was a good time, adn an interesting movie.

Friday I went to Sage for my interview, which didn't really even happen. I basically walked in and he gave me the job, which was cool. That night Laurelin and I went to ComedyWorx, an improv thing in Raleigh. It was ok. And that brings us to today, and I refuse to write any more. Good day, dear reader.

What to do? ~on a rainy day

2007-07-10T19:26:00.000-04:00

Last night was the wrap party for The Jewelry Box. We had a couple comedians and some pool tables and whatnot, so it was a nice hangout time. I thought it'd be hard to make friends, but I'm discovering that everyone here is new, so no one has friends. I have agreed to hang out with so many people since I got here, I could hang out with a different person every day for probably a week and a half. I think I should have a big party so all these people can meet each other. That sounds fun. I'll post pictures from that later. I ony took a few, but I thinnk other people used my camera, so we'll see what's there!

In other news, it suddenly rained today. It was really pretty. I stayed inside and made bagels and lasangua. Good times. Here is a picture of one of my bagels. I made 3 each of plain, cinn-raisin, and fresh herb. I haven't tried them yet though, we'll see how they taste.

A lovely place

2007-07-07T19:19:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a bike ride to the NC Botanical Gardens. I didn't get to see everything because it closed not long after I got there, but it was a marvelous experience. They had all sorts of herbs, flowers, trees, and facts about the flora. It was a peaceful place complete with gravel paths and wooden bridges, easy to get lost in, and I definately will be stopping by again.

Tonight: dinner, and then a movie (transformers) at 9:30.

Beach Day!

2007-07-07T14:37:00.000-04:00

Not for any job related purpose, but a long drive nevertheless, Laurelin and I headed off to the beach yesterday for some fun activities. Although the coal walking was left off of our "to-do" list, we did enjoy playing in the surf, sleeping in the sun, and, although it's mean, laughing at the boy with the super-tight swimsuit (hey, he had a normal one with him but decided not to wear it!) Anyway, it was a marvelous time, and Laurelin was a trooper for putting up with my, "Are we there yet? How much longer? I can't believe how long this is taking!"

Today I need to call around and decide what to do about my car, then, as a reward, I'll ride down to the botanical gardens down the street. So it sould be a fun day. And I hope that you also, dear reader have an enjoyable day. Cheers!

No, I did not fall off the earth.

2007-07-05T02:59:00.000-04:00

I've been working on this short movie, The Jewelry Box, and then my cara broke, so I've been super duper busy. But happy 4th of July! Thank you God for the freedoms we Americans have and please help us to use them responsibly!!

An unexpected thought

2007-06-26T15:10:00.000-04:00

I remember when I was young people would always say to my mother, "You're look too young to have 'X#' of children!" Then when I hit my growth spurt, people would find out I was 13 and be shocked, thinking I was much older. Now people think I'm still a teenager. I guess I have my mother's youthful face. It's kind of funny, but in a certain way, I guess I'm turning into my mother! And I do love my mother.

my weekend

2007-06-24T19:03:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I updated, huh? Last night my neighbor Vince invited me to join him and some friends and his date at a local music place. We went seperately, but then I parked in a lot a few blocks away and rode to the venue on the back of his scooter (he was meeting her there). It was so much fun! That's why people love motercycles, huh? He told me the band came "highly recomended" so I was a little disappointed to find out it was a county/bluegrass band. It was the best country I've ever heard, but it was still country. I ended up leaving after an hour or so.

Today we had the "dress rehersal" for The Jewelry Box. It was much shorter than I expected, but i got to chat with some of the people and meet some I hadn't met before. It was a good time.

That's about all that's going on in my life right now. Updates as they become available.

A Play, and otherwise uneventful day.

2007-06-21T02:32:00.000-04:00

Tonight I went with Christina to "Much Ado About Nothing", which was held outdoors in a beautiful little alcove surrounded by trees and mosquetoes. For some reason, I have always confused this title with, "The Importence of Being Ernest", so I was a little confused for the first part of the play. It was performed by about ten high schoolers, some of whom, the program informed us, had never acted or read Shakespeare before. I was prepared for disappointedment, but I think they did a marvelous job, even covering up very well when somene forgot to turn on the music. They made up for it by clapping without breaking character. I was very proud of them. I was also given websites for several other theaters in the area, which was exciting, because who doesn't enjoy a play in the summer?

I failed to mention I also got some nice little business cards printed earlier today. My dear friend Simon O'Reilly designed them, and I consulted. I like them a lot. I ended up getting some printed in yellow, and some in pink. Did I mention I like them a lot? They're really cute. And professional. And..... that's it for me for now, I guess. Sleep well, dear readers!

First "Jewelry Box" Prod. Meeting

2007-06-20T00:24:00.000-04:00

Good evening dear readers! The production meeting mentioned above actually took place yesterday, but I forgot to blog about it. I felt it was a huge success, and I am thrilled to be working with this team. For starters, as soon as i walked in the room, Raynna, whom I had been comunicating with via phone and e-mail, exclaimed, "You must be Alisha!" and gave me a humongo hug, which is a really good way to make me feel comfy and get on my good side, both of which she accomplished. I met probably 10 crew members, including the writer, editor, costume designer, director of photography (I think) and set designer (I think). They all seemed friendly yet professional and experienced. After I left Raynna sent me a sweet note telling me she's excited I'm part of the team. It should be a good time. I know I'm excited.

Before I moved here, my dear lil' sis' was kind enough to make me some whole wheat flour, and I just used it to make some herb bread. Actually, it's still rising. I hope it comes out, though.

PS~ everyone should comment!!!

My First Sunday

2007-06-17T17:48:00.000-04:00

Courtney worked last night and then taught Sunday school at the early service at her church, so I decided to sleep in and go to second service. For some reason I was very tired and ended up getting there late, but istill had a great time. I like it a lot: the people were nice and the teachings solid. The I went grocery shopping and ran into one of the speakers. It was cool. We talked, and turns out he's from Long Island!! Craziness.

The road Courtney lives off of is a two-lane highway, complete with exits. The speed limit should be at least 55/60, but is only 45, a fact I discovered after being pulled over on my way home from the grocery store. Fortunately the cop who pulled me over was very nice about the whole thing and didn't give me a ticket. hooray! That was enough adventure for me for one day.

And now, dear reader, I take my leave, bidding you good day.

2007-06-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I have been here, what-- not quite 3 days? and already so much fun. I hadn't even been here 24 hours when I left my car lights on and my battery died. Opps! I was in the Target parking lot so I asked the cart boy if they had one of thosechargers you can just carry around. They don't, but one of the other cart boys volenteered his car and after hooking the chargers to the engine and the creating sparks by touching them together, I was on my merry way. You'd think I'd be a pro after all the times I've had to recharge my battery.

Last night Courtney had to work, but I headed off with her friends Marco and Christina (a girl who very successfully paired an orange shirt with red accesorries!) to an outdoor showing of Meet the Robinsons. The looming grey clouds made me wonder if the showing would be canceled, but it wasn't, and it didn't rain, and we had a good time.

This morning I headed off to the local farmer's market, which I understand is held every week and is within walking distince. I didn't walk today, though, for fear of getting lost and having to walk miles and miles. But I had such a good time, let me tell you. I got some corn, carrots, squash, peppers, tomatoes, all organic, and I saw enough flowers and herbs to gladen even the most hard hearted person.

Coming up:
today: Raleigh with Christina (shopping and art mueseam)
Sunday: church
Monday: production meeting for the Jewlery Box
Tuesday: sushi party!

En Route!

2007-06-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

Wed. June 13 9:30pm

I am officially en route to North Carolina, a land which I recently was told is overflowing with NASCAR fans. Wow. We'll see how that interaction goes, if I ever make it there. So far I have faced a little confusion as to my directions, which was followed by a bemused cop who asked me if I had everything I owned in my car and got me back on track, followed by my car overheating and a well-meaning but unknowledgeable gent telling me to "call 911 and get it towed" and help from some really marvelous folks (I love Marylanders!), followed by torrential rain (did I just see a cat fall from the sky?) and traffic. I've had enough traffic for a while so I decided take a break and grab a bite from my favorite fresh fast-food joint. I think I'm in VA.

Anyway, although everything is not quite on scheduale, it's all turning out really well, and I'm excited for the next big adventure that comes my way. And now, having finished my meal, I'moff to see what adventure that may be! Love and joy! ~

~first post!

2007-06-08T04:11:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!! First post-- hooray! Check out this movie.