happy gas, whee

fyi: nitric oxide works like a charm on me.

and, somebody might be returning to her mexican hometown sometime soon for a little visit...

womanstuff, and cheesecake

so, i had my first "woman" appointment with the doc. ok, so i meant to do this at age 18, and i happen to be 21 now. ok, so time flies a little, and although there's a strong history of breast cancer in the family, not being sexually active has meant that i've cared not much at all about this inevitable and dreaded appointment. my time as a woman, talking with women, and particularly being involved for a couple of years in the vagina monologues up at school and hearing about this said appointment has made me think that if i could push it off until, say, i die, that'd be ok.

ok, so it really wasn't so bad after all. i got to wear a fabulous white paper-towel-ish consistency dress w/ a hole all the way down the front and a blanket (or towel? good lord, what the heck was that thing?) over it to "cover up." ha! the point of it, i'm not sure, and i'm sure america could play more of its part in environmentalism if doc offices were to rid of these wastes of paper altogether and just have women sit around in the buff during these appointments. good grief, there's no privacy eventually, anyway!

so, anyway. long story short, i'm healthy. but that's not the great part. after i went out to my car, i decided to give mom a call and play with her a bit. "how did it go?" she asked me (she knew i was really looking forward to the appointment-- not!). "great!, but we found out something really interesting. it turns out that... i'm a man!" there was a moment of silence that followed that lasted a lot longer than what it should have. ok mom, where are you?, i was thinking. then, this GREAT laugh comes from the other end of the phone. ok, so maybe she's not one for speed, but at least she's got a sense of humor.

in other news, my oldest brother's getting married in a few days. he *might* even be wearing a tuxedo that day. oh, man. can't miss this one, guys!!!!! (love you, scott!) if tracy can put up with him during these next few days, i'm not sure. i'm probably going to be holding my breath until she says "i do." then, deep breath, ok, kiss the bride and all that jazz, and then let's go eat cheesecake. there'll be enough cheesecake for the entire world population at the reception. so i guess if you're reading this, no matter where you are in the world, there'll be a piece for you. i know, your mouth's watering already. it should be. my mom makes a really, really, really mean cheesecake (and i'm talking every kind of cheesecake you can imagine). it would kick your mother's cheesecake's culo.

no mas muertes

May 19, 2006

Two desert aid workers go on trial Oct. 3

Presbyterians among groups supporting accused immigrant-smugglers
by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE — A new trial date has been set for two volunteers of a faith-based humanitarian group who were arrested last summer and charged in Arizona with smuggling illegal immigrants.
Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss of the humanitarian aid group No More Deaths are Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss face charges of transporting illegal aliens. File photo
scheduled for trial Oct. 3, according to the group and media reports. U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins will preside in the case.
Presbyterians in Arizona are active in the Tucson-based movement and were instrumental in forming the group. For the past two summers, the group has provided food, water and medical care to illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the United States through Arizona’s treacherous desert borderlands.
“I would have hoped that the case would have been dismissed,” said the Rev. John C. Matthew, a retired Presbyterian minister and No More Deaths volunteer. “I feel pretty positive about us being able to win the trial at this point.”
Sellz and Strauss, both 24, were charged after U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped their car in the Arivaca, AZ, border area on July 9.
The two immigrant aid volunteers, who are not Presbyterian, told authorities they were taking three illegal immigrants to get medical assistance at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson when they were arrested.
The aid workers said they followed the protocol recommended by No More Deaths by calling a doctor before deciding to take the men to Tucson.
Border Patrol officials said the entrants weren’t in dire need of medical aid, and that Sellz and Strauss were unlawfully aiding their illegal entry into the United States.
In January, U.S. Magistrate Bernardo P. Velasco denied a request by defense attorneys to dismiss the immigrant-smuggling charges against Sellz and Strauss. The defendants turned down a plea agreement from the government last summer, arguing that saving lives is nothing to feel guilty about.
In response to the arrests of the two volunteers, No More Deaths launched a campaign it calls “Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime.” More than 30,000 petitions have been sent to U.S. prosecutor Paul Charlton, asking him to drop the charges. More than 7,000 yard signs have been distributed in southern Arizona, and the group has hosted several press conferences in which community leaders and groups have voiced support.
The 261-mile-long stretch of border in the Tucson sector is the nation’s main corridor for illegal immigrants entering the United States. A sharp spike in deaths there in recent years has raised the concern of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 2003, the denomination’s 215th General Assembly approved an overture calling for measures to prevent migrant-worker deaths in the borderlands.
The measure, submitted by the Presbytery de Cristo, which represents 30 Presbyterian churches in southern Arizona and western New Mexico, calls on Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to be in relationship with congregations and middle governing bodies in border areas to help migrants in life-threatening situations.

mumbai had an ouchie :(

well, there's certainly nothing like leaving a place one week and finding out that this has happened the next week...

and speaking of being in a place, i promise to post a little something-or-other about my india adventure soon. for those of you who don't know, i'm at home now, safe and sound and no longer sick (let's hope it stays that way). i've begun an online course for the remainder of the summer (straight until classes begin for the fall), about which i'll write more later also, and am a recruit for the presby and methodist churches' vacation bible school this week-- i'll be posting pics, so stay tuned.

here in mumbai; this calls for a song-- oh-so-appropriately titled...

The rain in Bombay fall on the righteous and the wrong
And there is no way for me to understand
Faces pull towards me like the sea to the moon
Eyes like diamonds in the sun
Abraham's grains of sand spilling over the streets
A wave of statistics

The rain in Bombay feeds the swelling of the sea
It threatens to drown all the voices drowning me
We stand beneath the gateway of the foreign kings and queens
With nothing but pockets of candy
I look up to the sky and see the stars hanging from
The promises, the promises of God

Hollywood, Bollywood, London and Chicago
Lord, all the places you have placed us
I was born in a small town, and I feel like a small man
Looking out the windows of this Bombay bus

The rain in Bombay falls on the righteous and the wrong
And there is no way for me to understnad
Obscene idols, rickshaw cycles, cows on the highway
Honey, all the things that I have seen
But most amazing of them all is the grace that we believe in
That we are known and loved, loved and known

Hollywood, Bollywood, Tokyo, Nairobi
Lord, all the places you have placed us
I'm a child of the one God
The Spirit, Father, and Son
On each side of the windows of this Bombay bus

The rain in Bombay...

--Caedmon's Call