unbelievable

time is flying by. i've been so busy that i haven't taken the time to write about it. and now it's too late to remember everything... but i'll try.





July: Liz Middleton visited, Whitney's B-day and Flint/MI Playground Build

August: Rock the Bells (8 hs of awesome Hip Hop in an outdoor concert), Playground Build and personal time in Twin Falls/ID, Green Bay/WI Playground Build, Woodburn/OR Build and visit with Matt Forness in Portland




September: Burning Man, the wdydwyd? project, Heather in town for more than 3 weeks
(starting in August), Design Day in Austin/TX, Pirates Rock Orchestra Puppet Show in SF, Ra in town for a weekend visit!, Playground Build & personal time in Vancouver & Whistler, Folsom Street Fair, Design Day and Playground Build in Illinois, Thursday night church at Dolores Park Church, Design Day in Buffalo/NY for an ICE RINK!, and my first visit to Burbank.

dave chappelle, mos def and erykah badu

... were amazing (especially front row and center at SF's Warfield). nuff said.

can't wait to check out his Block Party movie.

geez

i can't believe it's been so long. i've been so distracted... and less interested in blogging lately, i guess. but this worth sharing. we hit a fire water main while auguring holes for a playground in Tucson last Friday, and then this. nearly 3 hours later, the city successfully turned it off. within 3 days, the pipe was fixed, the ground recompacted and graded, and the playground build postponed for 2 weeks.

work has been quite the rollercoaster lately. i've not been traveling as much as i've been served up, challenged and delivered from a couple very difficult projects. i'm on the up swing, though... in fact, after my annual performance review a few weeks ago, i've been able to investigate doing drama therapy and taking a few message therapy classes. more on that later.

in general, though, i haven't been the most balanced. after my ankle injury on 11/22, i was on crutches for 5 weeks, then started doing physical therapy and riding my bike to work again. :) i'm getting back on by feet again, in more ways than one.

here are just a few things i've been up to since last time:

-remotely building a playground in SF's western addition in mid-december (while on crutches, i couldn't lead the build, so i prepared everything for another project manager to lead it for me during build week.)
-home in NC for the week between Christmas and New Years
-physical therapy
-seconding at an athelic field build in phoenix
-leading a playground design day meeting in tucson
-doing site prep (only) for the playground build in tucson (see picture above)
-mad professor at dub mission
-board game nights
-syriana, munich, hong kong,... life and debt (2001), charlie and the chocolate factory (2005), spellbound (2002), the aviator (2004), being julia (2004), kinsey (2004), tarnation (2004), capturing the friedmans (2003), meet the fockers (2004), mad hot ballroom (2005), rize (2005), born into brothels (2004), house of flying daggers (2004), the bourne supremacy (2004), the weather underground (2002), and all of Mos Def’s feature films... :)
-nights up late working (... this job has turned me into a workaholic w/ insomnia)

on the go

i just finished 2 very challenging playground builds of my own: in Detroit on 10/20 and in Dallas on 10/27. then, i flew back to SF just in time to give a workshop on "Engaging Youth in your Community-build Playspace project" at the KaBOOM! University of Play conference on 10/28. then, i seconded for the U Play! playground build in Oakland on 10/29... finally, i flew to austin (where I am now) to second for Tabitha's last project (a field refurbishment) before she leaves KaBOOM!.

amidst all this travel, i managed...
-to go to LA for their Burning Man Decompression Party on 10/15;
-to host a pre-halloween accessories party with my roommates on 10/22;
-to visit with my cousins John and Louise (and their spouses) while in Dallas;
-to see MOS DEF & TALIB KWELI (!) in concert at the Mezzanine on 10/30;
-to go out on 6th street in Austin with my co-workers for halloween.

whew! will i ever give it a rest? maybe, but i won't even have time to think about it until veteran's day weekend and/or thanksgiving.

but first i go to tucson, az, for a design day meeting next wednesday, and after that, i head to NM to second for another project manager's playground build.

time flies

man. i can't believe a whole month has gone by. so much's happened (as it always does) and i can't keep up... so here are the highlights.

i've been really busy at work. the summer time is our peak season, but that's beside the point. i just have way too much to do, all the time. long hours. no comp time. too much travel. a little bureaucracy. it's exhausting... but (mostly) all worth the experience of working with communities, building playgrounds, going places i'd never be able to go to otherwise, meeting new people all over, learning a lot, and getting better at everything i do. i'm thankful for it, but it's a struggle.

i'm about to get on the road again... in the past month, i went to Winnipeg, MB, for a playground build (see next post) and to Houston, TX, (for less than 8 hours!) for a design day meeting (to begin a new project for another project manager). in the coming month, get this, i'm going...
-to DC for a week-long project management (PM) retreat,
-to Asheville, NC (home!) for the 4th of july,
-to Buffalo, NY, for my playground build,
-back to SF for 36 hours,
-to Minneapolis, MN, for another PM's playground build & for my design day meeting,
-back home to SF for a week, and
-finally to Wasilla (near Anchorage), AK, for my playground build.

ah. the life of a KaBOOM! PM...

now, you ask, what about life in SF? well, after my mom came to visit, everything's been on the up and up. meeting some new folks, out with friends, beautiful weather, biking through the city, confidence, seein' Digable Planets in concert (reunion tour), home-made sushi, home-made margaritas, spontaneous good times, and unusual encounters (e.g., with a random acquaintance that i met in Alaska). he had a lay-over in Oakland, and we ended up hanging out for about 24 hours... i'm all about meeting new people, but that was the first time i took the risk of trusting a complete stranger and hosting him while getting to know him. crazy, huh?... well, it all worked out, and now i have a new friend in Alaska that's going to hook me up with a fishing trip and a plane ride around Mt. McKinley at the end of july. :)

so before i jet set out of SF for about 3 weeks solid, i'm going down to the mission flea market, to Japantown for some sushi, into Downtown for the (Gay) Pride parade and festivities tomorrow, and to the Elbo Room for Dub night in the Mission tomorrow night... i guess i've got to live it up in the city, when i have the chance to.

Love and live music

this week was incredible. it started off with a surprisingly wonderful valentine's gift to myself -- a 2.5-hour hatha flow yoga session with Dina Amsterdam. i go to her class when i can, but on monday, she had an extra special line-up for us. it was the best thing i could have done for myself, especially on a day like valentine's. she read poems, prayers, quotes and unique definitions of love. her session focused on opening the chest, restoring the heart and calling upon the love within ourselves... the bottom line is that we must fully love ourselves before we can love others. imagine, if everyone really practiced this kind of true love, then the world would virtually heal itself. i guess it's good that we have a holiday devoted to love; it's just too bad that the commercialism gets in the way of that sometimes. here is her sweet valentine email that she sent out to us:

"To all my Yogi and Yogini Valentines ~

For me today is a very special day... releasing all the commercialized mumbo jumbo and underneath all the hooha. Today is a beautiful day. It is a day to honor the spirit. And to celebrate love. To bring love to the forefront of our minds and hearts... and to trust in the truth that the deepest love we will ever know is the love that is our essence. In addition to how we love and honor and acknowledge others in our life, may this be a day that we love and celebrate and cultivate our own light ~ the wellspring from which all our love flows.

As the Buddha offers ~ May you rest in the innate goodness of your heart.

Thank you for being a part of my world and my heart... for bringing such sweetness and meaning to my life.

All love,
Dina"
______________________________

so, then, on wednesday night, i went to go see blackalicious and mos def at the berkeley community theatre. the show was incredible. the venue was a little big for blackalicious, but mos def took the stage by storm. his rhymes, his song, his moves and his talent were to die for. it was so good i was trippin'.

lastly, i went to the thievery corporation show last night. i had a good time and sweated my tail off dancing. it was fun and their music was fly, but i wasn't all that impressed with their stage performance. other than their light show, there was very little "show" to be seen... nevertheless, i was very glad to have gone... it's too bad the social life is so expensive here.

Motorcycle Diaries, houseparty and the Bridge School Benefit

last weekend, i went (with a co-worker, her roommate and my brother's fiance) to the Clay Theatres on Fillmore to see Motorcycle Diaries ... what a powerful testimony of how traveling (off the beaten path) can change someone's worldview dramatically. this film is very moving and definitely a must-see, especially for fellow Latin Americanists. noteworthy elements: the beautiful South American landscape (from Argentina to Colombia), the social commentary, the inspirational humanitarianism, the reality, the eye-opening experiences of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the cast of actors. brilliant.

also, my roomies and I had our first houseparty on Saturday. despite the rain, there was a pretty good turnout. I made margaritas and ended up having one too many. :-( after a successful recovery Sunday afternoon, I joined my brother Tony's friend at the Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. (it was very random that I went... I had no idea that it was even going on until I got offered the ticket on Sunday at 12:30!) I was able to catch Los Lonely Boys, Sonic Youth, Ben Harper, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tony Bennett, before I had to leave due to cold toes.

that's all for now... I'm procrastinating at work, mostly b/c I don't have a lot on my plate right now. I can't complain. it's a nice break.