restart

I just started posting again on finding maitri
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Cheers.

fixing the future

Watch the full episode. See more NOW on PBS.

hrumph and the hidden messages

*arms crossed, brow furrowed*

That's right, I said it and I will say it again. Hrumph!
And I will say it even louder and while stomping my right foot. HRUMPH! *stomp*
I am so very serious. Hrumph!

If you didn't already figure it out, I woke up feeling "lumpy and hrumphy" today. No particular reason for the blahs, just work up that way. Oddly, it feels good to sometimes have these days. If only it weren't Monday and I didn't have to go in to work this afternoon. I'd much prefer cuddling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book to indulge in, getting lost in my mind and resting. Perhaps some other hrumphy day.

Hope your day is hrumph-free and, if it isn't, you can indulge.

need more sleep?

So much going on, I feel like I need to start planning nap time during my days. I am exhausted. Thinking of the ways I like to recharge, it's certainly time to take advantage of a few of these:

hiking in the woods
breathing in the salty air at the beach
taking pictures
listening to nostalgic music
sitting outside listening to the sounds
making some jewelry
going to a comedy show
viewing some art
cuddling

What do you do to recharge your internal batteries?

dang good dawgy!

Yesterday was Boddington's first day at dog training. Though he already knew some basic commands, I am fascinated by how well he did. It is such a blessing to have a well behaved dog. Getting to see how quick all the dogs responded to proper training was nothing short of amazing. It is wonderful to see how simple training can be. Does it take patience? Yes! But getting the help and support of a skilled trainer can make a world of difference. I would love to see how hard-core trainers retrain seriously behavior-challenged canines and convert them into gentle beings.

Tricks Boddington can do thus far:

sit
lay down
wait
come
stand
be cute
shed
give kisses
make your owner's heart swell

where's my peace and calm?

Tension seems to be pervasive lately. Things have been in disarray, physically and energetically. I do not fully have an understanding of all the energies at play but I am trying to take a step back and get a broader view. Many people I know are experiencing similar feelings.

This morning I woke up early and took the opportunity to do a mini-workout and took the dog for a longer morning walk than usual. I listened to the quiet of pre-dawn moments and watched the sky brighten. I will try to carry this with me as I face the day. Sure hope it helps.

Plus, there is puppy school to look forward to tonight. Let's see how Boddington does.

May your day be full of calm and puppy tricks!

the bad rap of mastic beach

After doing a drive-by to show my in-laws our potential house, the response was positive. My parents were driven by it weeks ago and they had the same response. When people ask me what town I am moving to, people react less-than-enthusiastically. I have even found myself making little jokes about that I am moving from one white-trash town to a white-trash town with water views.

The town has a lousy reputation for being laden with drug dealers, dog-fighting rings and sex offenders. This gets perpetuated by others, including myself up until recently, through poking fun at the area. I have since stopped, not only because I am choosing to move there, but because I am getting a different perspective. Driving through my soon-to-be town, I have only come across friendly people who are quick to give a smile and a wave hello. They proudly keep their properties nicely landscaped and loved. The houses, though on the smaller side (it's a beach-bungalow type area), are unique and beautiful; a far cry from the cookie-cutter suburban towns that have cropped up all over Long Island in the past twenty years.

After a bunch of research of local and wider news sources, I could not find any evidence of dog-napping or fighting in the area. I had spied this rumor in the comment section of an online news article, which gave me a moment of panic thinking that someone might try to nab my sweet Boddington, but my fears were eased with the lack of evidence in news sources.

As for the number of sex offenders, yes the extended area has quite a few. However, looking at the levels of their crimes and their related victims, these are not high risk of recidivism SOs. I have worked with sex offenders in a lock-down program as well as a few in outpatient treatment. I do not harbor any unnecessary fear. I also believe that it is not the registered offenders you have to worry about as much as the ones that haven't been caught or haven't committed their first offense. I don't believe a parent should trust anyone they don't know with their children.

The town does have it's share of problems but that is why they recently voted to become an incorporated village. There is a large portion of hard-working, good honest people that want to improve the town in actuality and in image. So do I. No longer am I going to joke about the town I am moving to. I am proud to be becoming a resident and I am going to use my camera to start sharing the beauty that is within the borders. No longer will I perpetuate negativity, only joy.

surrealism

Being officially "under contract" for the house feels surreal and wonderful. Thoughts of decorating and spring planting are bursting from my imagination. I can picture Boddington chasing squirrels in the yard (he never does catch them but keeps them away so no need for THIS). I imagine Sherman doing extra "binkies" (happy bunny hops) because he gets more daylight. Hooray windows! Never before have I wanted to be "settled" in one place, but this completely feels right. I am brimming with excitement and jumping with joy. I cannot wait to invite you all over for a barbecue.

finally free: aung san suu kyi released from house arrest

It has been a very long time since I posted THIS but I am happy to be able to follow up with this article from BBC News:

13 November 2010 Last updated at 14:21 ET

Burma releases pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

The Burmese military authorities have released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest.

Appearing outside her home in Rangoon, Ms Suu Kyi told thousands of jubilant supporters they had to "work in unison" to achieve their goals.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years. It is not yet clear if any conditions have been placed on her release.

US President Barack Obama welcomed her release as "long overdue".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ms Suu Kyi was an "inspiration", and called on Burma to free all its remaining political prisoners.

Ms Suu Kyi, 65, was freed after her latest period of house arrest expired and was not renewed by the military government.

Her release comes six days after the political party supported by the military won the country's first election in 20 years. The ballot was widely condemned as a sham.

'Long overdue'

For more than 24 hours crowds of people had been waiting anxiously near Ms Suu Kyi's home and the headquarters of her now-disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) party for news of her fate.

Many wore T-shirts sporting the slogan "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi".

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

John Simpson World Affairs Editor, BBC News, Burma

---

What we saw here were scenes of extraordinary, unforgettable pleasure. But no-one knows what comes next. Aung San Suu Kyi phrased her new policy with deliberate vagueness when she talked about people working together to achieve their goals.

Working with the opposition leaders who thought she was wrong to opt out of last week's elections, certainly. But working with the generals who run this country and who have kept her prisoner so long - that's going to be very hard indeed.

This isn't South Africa and the old regime isn't just prepared to fade away. We'll get more of a clue to all of this on Sunday at noon Rangoon time, when Aung San Suu Kyi holds a press conference - assuming that it's allowed to go ahead by the authorities. But the generals are taking a huge risk in releasing her from house arrest and the battle of wills is only just beginning.

On Saturday afternoon, a stand-off developed between armed riot police and several hundred people gathered on the other side of the security barricade blocking the road leading to her lakeside home. Some of them later sat down in the road in an act of defiance.

As tensions rose, reports came in at about 1700 (1030 GMT) that official cars had been seen entering Ms Suu Kyi's compound, and then that unnamed officials had formally read the release order to her.

Hundreds of people then surged forward and rushed forwards to greet her.

The ecstatic crowd swelled to three or four thousand before Ms Suu Kyi, in a traditional lilac dress, finally appeared, about 30 minutes later, on a platform behind the gate of her compound.

She took a flower from someone in the crowd and placed it in her hair.

Ms Suu Kyi then tried to speak, but was drowned out by the noise of the crowd, many singing the national anthem and chanting her name repeatedly.

"I have to give you the first political lesson since my release. We haven't seen each other for so long, so we have many things to talk about. If you have any words for me, please come to the [NLD] headquarters tomorrow and we can talk then and I'll use a loud speaker," she joked.

"There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk," she added. "People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal."

She then went back inside her home for the first meeting with NLD leaders in seven years. She also spoke to her youngest son, Kim Aris, who was awaiting her release in neighbouring Thailand. Ms Suu Kyi had two sons with late husband, British scholar Michael Aris.

International leaders were quick to welcome Ms Suu Kyi's release.

Mr Ban said she was an "inspiration", but he regretted that she had been excluded from the elections.

He said he hoped no further restrictions would be placed on Ms Suu Kyi, and urged the Burmese authorities "to build on today's action by releasing all remaining political prisoners".

The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Surin Pitsuswan, said he was "very, very relieved" and hoped the move would "contribute to true national reconciliation".

President Obama called Ms Suu Kyi "a hero of mine".

"Whether Aung San Suu Kyi is living in the prison of her house, or the prison of her country, does not change the fact that she, and the political opposition she represents, has been systematically silenced, incarcerated, and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes," he said.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron also said the release was "long overdue", describing her detention had been a "travesty".

"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights," he added.

Key elections

The ruling junta has restricted Ms Suu Kyi's travel and freedom to associate during previous brief spells of liberty, and has demanded she quit politics.

Continue reading the main story

Aung San Suu Kyi

• Born 1945, daughter of Burma's independence hero, General Aung San, assassinated in 1947
• 1960: Leaves Burma and is later educated at Oxford University
• 1988: Returns to care for sick mother and is caught up in revolt against then-dictator Ne Win
• 1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law
• 1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result
• 1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
• 2000: Near continuous period of house arrest begins
• Sept 2007: First public appearance since 2003, greeting protesting Buddhist monks
• November 2010: NLD boycotts first election in 20 years and is disbanded; House arrest ends

However, earlier this week her lawyer said that she would "not accept a limited release".

A BBC correspondent in Rangoon says it is unlikely the ruling generals would have freed Ms Suu Kyi unless they felt confident she no longer represented a threat to them or their plans for the country.

Sunday's elections were a key step in a carefully planned transition from overt military rule to a nominally civilian government, but the process has been widely condemned as widely fraudulent and un-democratic, she adds.

State media have reported that the biggest military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), has secured a majority in both houses of parliament. Those elected included the leader of the USDP, Prime Minister Thein Sein, who retired from the military as a general in April to stand.

A quarter of seats in the two new chambers of parliament will be reserved for the military. Any constitutional change will require a majority of more than 75% - meaning the military will retain a casting vote.

The NLD - which won the last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power - refused to contest the election, which means that legally it is no longer a political entity. By extension Burma's most famous democracy campaigner now has no official political status and an unclear role.

Our correspondent says the next few days might provide some answers on how Ms Suu Kyi plans to further the cause of freedom of justice in Burma, for which she has sacrificed so much to achieve, but in the meantime thousands of her supporters are just enjoying the moment.

soy delicious!

I'm not one to promote products, but these are a few of my favorite things! Thank you Waldbaums for carrying some of my favorite holiday treats. It's the little things in life, right? Straight or in coffee, freakin' delicious!

Happy Tuesday

Who would have guessed that Tuesday would be a great day?

I am finally confidant that we are under contract for our little gingerbread house with the great dog yard.

Opportunities are opening up.

I am more in love now then ever.

I will be an aunt next month (biologically speaking this time) and my parents will finally be grand.

Oh, and I remembered to floss today.

I am so filled with blessings, joy and good oral hygiene I hope you can all feel it through the screen. Oh my goodness, I want to spin around on the front lawn until I get dizzy and fall! But I will just go to work instead.

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

hark...

P1030901
Originally uploaded by misslissa13

Who goes there?