do do do...do do...

It's a wonderfully beautiful afternoon here in the south loop and for reasons I cannot explain I can't seem to stop smiling. There is much I should be doing, with it being midterms and all, but I am simply far too content gazing out my windows while the b-ling b-ling b-ling of Yonder Mountain String Band's banjos float into my ears. You have just got to love the banjo.

Looking out the window has become one of my new favorite things to do. It is something that I picked up from the little boy that I babysit. Each day I sit him on the window sill ledge and we just stare at the world going by. He gets so excited when he sees a flock of pigeons fly by or when I dog runs across the street. The littlest things make him laugh a laugh that is so uncontrollable and so unexplainable, which sends me into a fit of laughter to the point where I think I might pee my pants. Being around someone who is 18 months a few days a week will definitely change your perspective on life.
Now instead of watching t.v. or reading or knitting or doing homework I find myself looking out the window...a lot. It's so simple, but I love it.

Sick.

99...100...101...beep beep...102.

I have not left my bed since Thursday...it is now Saturday evening.
I cannot swallow.
My body aches.
I am cold.
I am hot.
I am weak.
My head throbs.
I sleep & sleep & sleep.
I am beyond exhaustion.
My eyes keep shutting.
I am not hungry.
nor thirsty.
I am weak.
pooped out.
burned out.
worn out.
exhausted.

Old music.

This past week I have found myself listening to music from the past...songs that I loved 5 years ago I have found a new love for. Modest Mouse, The Vines, The Walkmen, Starsailor etc.

Congo.

1.3 million people have been displaced in Eastern Congo and over 5 million have been killed.
What is happening in the Eastern Congo is horrific and unjust.



“Women had very few rights. They are not perceived as equal citizens. I think what […] these atrocities have done is to have, bizarrely, normalized rape. So now it's not just the Congolese army and the factions that are raping the women; now it's becoming normalized. Domestic rape and domestic battery has wildly increased in families."
Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day, September 2007

"Normalized rape." How can we as human beings honestly let something as horrible as rape continue each day and say that it is becoming normalized. Women who are trying to take care of their children, trying to get an education, simply trying to survive are being beaten and raped sometimes multiple times a day. The thought of this makes me physically and emotionally ill.
I hope that other people will see the enormity of this issue and do something about it.

If you would like to take a step to ending violence against women ask Congress to pass the I-VAWA.

Sign the letter to pass I-VAWA at
http://www.womensedge.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=133

Chernobyl

I have been fascinated with the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and while reading about it found some photos that are beautifully silent.

A Powerful Noise

I jump on. insert my card. say hello. walk to my seat. sit down. sigh. unzip. dig. dig. dig. crap. sigh.

After a night of babysitting on Monday night I was ready to plug into my i-pod and drift into a wonderful daze for the rest of the bus ride home. That would have been great if I had brought my i-pod. I was upset with myself at first, but then remembered something my roommates teacher had said. They have us all so plugged into our i-pods, cellphones, t.v. shows, that we don't even take a stand anymore. It's true. We don't put up a fight for our rights anymore. Back in the 60's and 70's if they saw something they didn't like they let the government and everyone know that they didn't like it. Now we just complain to our friends and then change the channel.

Well after remembering this I was glad I didn't have my i-pod and enjoyed observing people and the city. At one particular stop I looked out the window to see an advertisement for the film A Powerful Noise. It looked interesting and at the bottom said, "In celebration of International Women's Day." WHO KNEW! We have a whole day! The bus began to pull away so I quickly looked for the date..."In select theatres nationwide for one night." One night March 5, 2009 6:30 pm.
Not only will the documentary be showing, but afterwards there will be a town hall discussion live with humanitarians and activists. (Natalie Portman, Nicholas Kristof, Christy Turlington Burns, Madeleine K. Albright and more)

This is such an amazing event to take part in and I hope people will. This week has given me so much hope for the Take Back the Night event we are planning and for the organization we want to begin. I have hope that people will question and take part in events that we plan, not just women but men also. In one of my classes yesterday there was a guy in my class who announced an event on campus, The F Word...Feminism. Last night they held a reading (poetry, short stories) all about women and feminism...The guy in my class was hosting the event. This began a whole new level of hope for our society and how men and women interact and treat one another.

All in all this has been a good few days.
I don't think I'll bring my i-pod on the bus anymore.

The Congo.

This family of eight registering at Lushebere camp, also in North Kivu, will have to stay in a single hut.

Civilians have been fleeing clashes involving rebel forces led by Laurent Nkunda and government troops. Both sides have been accused of atrocities. The displaced live in camps like this one in Nyanzale, North Kivu.