Another article: Serenity Now!

Sorry that I've been posting pure articles lately, but life is a little hectic these days and getting regular posts out is difficult. I promise I'll have an update on the mayhem of being me when there is mayhem to update on. In the meantime, here's my article from last week's Island Voice. Enjoy!

Serenity now!


It’s been a long day-- one that started at 5 in the morning, and just kept coming until well after the sun set. You’re trying to breathe, but you really just want to find a place to fall apart or perhaps have a stiff drink, or maybe both. We’ve all been there, holding on to what little nerves we have left to get us through the day. Despite our best efforts to keep a positive attitude, the day just ends up being a thumbs down. The question is, how do you make sure that you don’t hold on to all the funky energy? That’s where the serenity spot comes in.

A serenity spot is a place where you can go to calm down and release any tension that has built up within or around you. Your serenity spot may have certain touchstone objects available to you that help you find your peace – a bible, a family photograph, a beautiful gemstone, etc. Some people erect entire altars in their serenity spots, complete with candles and incense. It is important that you protect this space from other people’s stuff, i.e. Junior’s toys or anyone’s dirty socks. And the most important thing about this space is that it is yours. When you are at your serenity spot you are not to be disturbed.

Don’t have space in your home to erect your little oasis? Or maybe you’re always on the go? Learn to create a serenity spot in your mind, and you can take it with you wherever you go. Try this serenity meditation to get things rolling:

*Close your eyes and focus on your breathing

*Take long deep breaths in and out.

*Picture a color that makes you feel relaxed and safe.

*Picture the color surrounding you as you breathe in and out.

*As you fall deeper into your breaths and color, think of a place where you feel completely safe.

*Let the energy of that memory surround you as you feel your body relax.

*When you are ready, slowly count down from 20, allowing your mind and your body to re-enter into the physical space.

*Slowly open your eyes, but carry the feeling of relaxation with you as you continue through your day.

We all have bad days, but with the serenity spot we have a place to release that funky energy and move forward.

Love Yourself!

Ahoi hoi cyberfriends,

Below you'll find a copy of my article from last week's Island Voice. The Island Voice is one of our local papers here in the Marshall Islands, and I have a weekly health column with them.

How Much Do You Love You?


How many times have you looked in the mirror and wondered how you got so chubby? Or maybe you took a look at your hair and wondered why it was so thin? Perhaps it was your height that made you wish for a little more? Maybe even the color of your eyes puts you off sometimes? We all have moments when we wish we were a little more x or a little less y. It’s human, to be expected even. We have hundreds of books and magazines out there helping us with these problems. They show us how to put on make-up so the wrinkles disappear, what jeans to buy to make our butts look great, and what drinks to drink to pump the muscles up. And we do it, and sometimes it works much to our great delight. Other times it doesn’t, and we move on to the next magic pill to see what it will bring us. When I was an angsty teenager, the last thing I wanted to do was look at myself. I’d pass the mirror with eyes downcast just to avoid that person on the other side. When I did look, it was to add more eyeliner, or to see if my hair really did look better fire engine red. I wish I could say that as I got older the mirror became a friend, but I’m pretty much still on a need to know basis with those bossy bits of glass. Don’t get me wrong, with time and less exposure to peppy high school girls with pompoms, I reached a level of comfort with myself. I happen to like me, most days. It is a difficult thing to sustain, though. However, it is a necessary thing. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that if you don’t like you, you can’t expect anyone else to. Many of us our searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right, but we haven’t taken the time to prepare ourselves for meeting them. We haven’t fallen in love with our bumps and bruises yet. Well, if you can’t find something good about your snoring, how do you expect to sell it to that awesome person you’re staring at across the room. Self-love starts at home. Here are a few things you can do to get your groove back with you:

1. Nothing Compares 2 U: Try going through an entire day without comparing yourself to anyone around you. Instead, see everyone (including yourself) as the unique individual that they are. This is not as easy as it sounds.

2. Face Time: Spend some time with you in the mirror. Now, this isn’t one of those look at yourself naked deals, unless that’s just how you roll. Instead, throw on your favorite outfit and check yourself out. Shower yourself in some compliments. This is an especially good one to do before work. You’ll walk out of the door with a hop in your step.

3. I ♥Me: Make a list of all of the things you like about YOU! Put it in a place where you can see it. When you’re feeling down about yourself, take a look at the list. It should be an instant pick me up.

I know we’ve all been told that vanity is a sin. And it is! Self love, however, is a different animal. Self love means the ability to see the good in yourself, to forgive yourself and move forward, and to accept you for who you are. If you can love you, then it is easier to love others. Now give yourself a big self-lovin’ hug. You deserve it!

Relax Already!

I've been meaning to announce here that I'm now writing a column for one of my island's local papers, The Island Voice. This is the article that was published in last week's paper. Hopefully The Island Voice will have a web presence soon and I will be able to refer folks there.

Relax Already


I have always been a multi-tasker. If I could find a way to grade papers in my sleep, I would. I’m the person you see drinking tea, reading the paper, and balancing a plate on my head. Needless to say, the idea of chilling out does not come to me very easily. Imagine how shocked my loved ones were when they found out I was moving to a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. I, who was always at least 5 minutes early to everything, was going to have to work on “island time”. I could picture my friends and family shake their heads in jealousy picturing me leaned back on a white sand beach with an umbrella drink in hand and a handsome well-oiled cabana boy fanning me with palm fronds. If only they knew how wrong that picture was for various reasons, the cabana boy notwithstanding. I would still be doing my famous rip and run, just without having to ever shift my wardrobe to winter. As this type of behavior is completely unsustainable, I sought out something I could do to relax. I had taken yoga before, so that seemed like the most likely thing to do. I liked doing postures and how good my body felt after. There was just one posture that kept getting me, however—Savasana. Yogi’s believe that in order for the body to synthesize all those good stretches, you have to take a moment to consciously relax. The posture looks deceptively simple – just lie down on your mat, close our eyes, and focus on your breathing. I saw this posture as a perfect opportunity to think about what I needed to do after class. When my mind wasn’t wandering, my body itself was wiggling and squirming as if an ant had entered my pants. Yes, those of you saying that this kind of behavior completely defeats the purpose are correct, but the fact is that we just don’t allow ourselves to consciously empty our minds. Sure, we go out to have a relaxing drink, or maybe sip some tea while listening to relaxing music, but how many of us give ourselves the chance to just sit and do nothing. Nothing—no music, no tea, no TV, no thinking, No-Thing! Just sit and be. It’s tricky no matter how you slice it. I still struggle with it myself. I will say this though, once I finally allowed myself that savasana-- the feeling of falling back into nothing, the feeling of nothing but breathing-- it was liberating. I don’t go there often, and I don’t always go there well, but I at least make the effort regularly. Want to try it? Here are some easy steps.

Mini-Savasana

• Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair

• Bring your heels together and let your feet flop to the sides

• Bring your arms out to your sides at about 45 degrees

• Focus on your breathing

• Feel your chest rise as you inhale

• Feel your chest fall as you exhale

• As you inhale say to yourself: I am breathing in

• As you exhale say to yourself: I am breathing out

• Do this for at least 1 minute

Don’t beat yourself up if the first time you try this you get distracted by other things. That just means that you’re normal. Just gently bring yourself back to your breathing, and you’ll start to feel your body let go. If you can give yourself a little “do nothing” time once a day, you’ll start to feel that relaxed feeling extend to your other activities. In yoga, the more relaxed your muscles are, the further you can stretch. I would have to say that this applies to people as well. The more relaxed you are, the easier your day will go.

published in The Island Voice, Issue 1 Vol 1, August 19, 2011

Summer Adventures

Ok, so I know I’ve been M.I.A. For those of you who actually tune in to this blog, I would like to apologize. I will try to do a better job of letting you guys know when I plan to disappear next time around. That said, I’m back, and ready to share the adventures of the summer. They are fast coming to a close, but it has been a full and productive 2 months. So, I’ll start with the kick-off: the Amazing, Fantastic, Phenomenal, and Unforgettable VONA summer workshop for writer’s of color.

VONA stands for Voices of Our Nation. I found out about this fantastic workshop from a fellow writer, co-worker, and friend who pushed me to apply. Boy am I glad I did. I was accepted to the poetry writing workshop of the lovely and talented Ruth Forman. If you don’t know her work, Google her. Her voice resonates on so many levels, I won’t even begin to try to describe. Just check her out.

The workshop was at UC Berkeley, which also gave me the chance to get to know a part of Cali that I had never been to before.

I kicked off my journey by settling in to my dorm room.

It was pretty trippy being back in a dorm at this stage in my life, but I spent very little time in the room. As soon as I was settled, I ventured out to get to know the town. I had a lovely breakfast at the corner café and then went for a beautiful hike that ended up with a view of the bay.

After that it was all about buckling down.

The next 6 days were spent honing craft and producing work. On the first day we set goals for our class, some of which were to be less inhibited, to go deeper, to be playful, to find a place for our writing, and to learn about publishing. And that is exactly what happened. With Ruth’s guidance we explored our voices from every angle, the good the bad and the ugly. One exercise had us look at 10 aspects of our writing. This sounds pretty easy, but I, personally, had never really sat down and thought about what my writing really looks like. Another exercise simply started with the line I will not tell you… Each day we were given a prompt like this that brought about profound words and discussion. We also got down to the fine art of craft: lines, sounds, texturing. The two books for the course The Poet's Companion and The Discovery of Poetry served as great guides for this journey, and I will definitely use them in my classroom this academic year.

And lastly, we got in there and workshopped some poems. At times this was tedious, but always rewarding. We went as deep as we could go into the poetry , and offered honest, constructive, thoughtful, and sincere criticism. I left the week feeling like a new person on the level of artist, but also person of color. The 10 women that I had the pleasure to spend the week with created a safe space and I feel truly bonded to them.

The week ended with two explosive readings. The first was a reading of the instructors for the week, which included Stacey Ann Chin, Junot Diaz, ZZ Packer, Diem Jones, and our instructor Ruth Forman, to name a few. If that wasn’t enough to blow me out of the water, the next day was the student reading, which included group presentations from each class. The presentations were as varied as the writers that attended workshops that week. From grand impersonations of instructors, to symbolic offerings to artists far and wide, the presentations were well thought out and moving. Our group chose to do an ensemble piece on why we write. Here’s a part of my contribution:

I write because I have been swallowed by jungles that washed me in gecko chirps and night howls and then placed me on an elephant’s back to enter the world

I write because I have lain on a blanket of ocean that seeped into my skin and read me stories of Yemaya

I write because my hands fidget when not fiddling with canvases that can crack the small of the morning wide open for the dawn to seep into my bones

…

The last day of the workshop we gathered at the UC Berkeley Octagon, which is a large grassy space set off from the dorm we were staying in. We each took a turn to talk about what we would take from the workshop, and how we would carry the experience of VONA with us throughout the year. It is truly a privilege to be able to spend a week with people of color, to not have to explain, or deal with strange looks, to be able to express fully the experience of being a person of color without backlash, to feel comfortable with the people around. I’m not saying that I don’t feel comfortable in the “real” world, but it is a different experience to be surrounded by people who intimately understand your own experience because it is their experience too. I truly feel like we represented and continue to represent the voices of our nation. Many people spoke of renewed strength in the value of that voice. VONA showed us that it’s ok to straighten our backs, to lift our eyes. It showed us that there really is a place for our voices in this world, and that we must speak. No one else will do it for us.

My VONA experience was one that I will never forget, and I’m truly looking forward to going back some time soon. The knowledge that I gained about being a writer/artist/person of color in this world will stay with me. I recommend this workshop to any writer of color out there trying to find a place for their voice. It is an experience that we so seldom get the chance to have as “minorities”. One of my classmates said it best, “If VONA were a place, I would move there.”

For more information, check out www.voicesatvona.org

Next summer adventure: MEXICO!!!!

My 2 cents on the killing of Osama bin Laden

I was probably one of the last people to hear about the death of Osama bin Laden. I heard the news at a party, and there wasn’t much I could do but shake my head. Ever since 9/11 the search for Osama has been a fixation for many Americans. We have started wars that we don’t know how to finish and killed more people than I care to think about. And now we celebrate because a man is dead. Well, I will not be using this post as a platform for celebration. I do not believe an eye for an eye ever solved anything. We recoiled at video footage of “terrorists” relishing and wishing death on Americans, and yet we dance in the streets at the death of this man. I believe that all deeds have consequences, but who are we, especially the US government, to stand in judgment of anyone’s deeds without first looking at our own. Some may consider that statement unpatriotic, but I say it out of love for my country. A country that I would like to believe has more integrity than this. Our President’s words were simple, “We got him.” What does that mean? In my mind we got a whole lot more than we think we did. We all got a little more blood on our hands. I think it is time to stop celebrating and take a real hard look at where this puts us. I think now is a time for diplomacy, not headhunting. I think now more than ever the call for peace should be strong in our throats. I think now more than ever we must act as global citizens. I take nothing from the lives that were lost on that tragic day in September, but this does not avenge them. Their lives and the lives of all those lost to senseless killing will only be avenged when we as a nation and as a world stand up for peace and equality.

Bored at work WTF

Whenever I get bored a I work, I cruise news pages to see what is "happening" in the world. Some of the most entertaining stuff can be found on yahoo news. I wouldn't call these posts reliable, but they are entertaining. So, I wasn't particularly surprised when I found this little gem.

taken from: New Eating Disorders
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real

What is orthorexia? Identified in 1997 by Colorado physician Steven Bratman, MD, orthorexia is Latin for “correct eating.” Here, too, the focus isn’t on losing weight. Instead, sufferers increasingly restrict their diets to foods they consider pure, natural and healthful. Some researchers say that orthorexia may combine a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder with anxiety and warn that severely limited “healthy” diets may be a stepping stone to anorexia nervosa, the most severe - and potentially life-threatening - eating disorder.

Orthorexics: Those affected may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides. Beyond that, orthorexics may also shun caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, wheat and dairy foods. Some limit themselves to raw foods.


So.....people who insist on clean eating have an eating disorder? Thoughts?

On Poets~

we indulge in the strange, and dark corners, bow our heads thoughtfully, but not in prayer

we hold our hands as if trying to keep water from escaping
knowing that it will, knowing that some parched mouth
will taste the sweetness of it

~rdh

Just Dance

The dance of life goes on within and around us. Nothing in the universe stands still.

~ The Tao of Inner Peace

Getting your house in order

As I was doing my morning read through all my favorite blogs, I came across this line and it hit me like a ton of bricks.


Would you let anyone set up their home in your building, knowing that it wasn't completely sturdy or even able to provide adequate shelter?


I have recently been wrestling with the person I am now and the "girl I used to be". Somehow I thought that simply aging would make me better and wiser, but sadly I am not a cheese or wine. I'm coming to the realization that the choices I have made of late have made my house a little understurdy. All those happy occupants who have come to trust that their space in my building is safe, are probably starting to notice that the paint is peeling. I've made a few minor repairs, and repainted some things, but there is no denying that it is the infrastucture that needs attention. Whether I point the finger at weight gain, depression, loss, isolation, not feeling successful, or whatever else, the bottom line is that there is a problem. In the past I have relied on friends and loved ones to help keep the walls from falling down. But, aging has at least taught me how incredibly unfair that is. This question brought that behavior back to light for me, and I'm hoping that I can start to rebuild again.

I've always been a spiritual person. I know that sounds like a woo-woo cop-out, but it is so true. I believe that once you are conscious that a change needs to happen, you can do something about it. You can meditate, pray, and try to evolve, move forward. You can make sure that the relationships you are in make you better. You can open your eyes to the lessons that people have to offer you. Step by wobbly step, you can begin to love your space again, and rebuild that house. Make it sturdy, so it can draw even more love into it.

Your are just you

There is no such thing as a good person or a bad person. There are choices and actions that lead us in different directions, and it is through those choices and actions that we create our realities. You are a human being with every right to be here, learning and exploring. To label yourself good or bad is to think too small. What you are is a decision-maker and every moment provides you the opportunity to move in the direction of your higher self.

~~Daily Om

Puff!

I'm so excited! I have been using all of my hair mojo to repair my hair after the infamous Mexico trim. Not only have my locs grown, but I was able to rock my first puff last week. Here's to persistence.

What's your vibration?

In Aboriginal Dreaming,

every meaningful activity, event, or life process

is believed to leave behind a vibrational residue.

The Title of the Blog Says it All

Ok, so this post is mostly for me, but it is also for any of the folks that started following that blog and are wondering where in the world did she go. I'm still here, but have been in a bit of emotional and psychological limbo lately. I've been questioning where I am, what I'm doing, and what I can possibly do to turn it all around. I wish I could say that I've come to a conclusion, but the truth is, I'm still holding back the tears. I don't know where this blog will be going next, but I do plan to keep it up. I'm hoping to have photos and poems and fun travel stories to share soon. Not sure how soon, but soon enough. So, be on the look out for some interesting things soon. Until then, be blessed and well.

Life in a Fish Tank

In a previous post, I mentioned that I'm reading Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening. Today was day 9, a story about some fish. Nepo tells the story of a man who needed to clean his fish tank. In order to do so, he filled the bathtub with water, put the fish in the tub, and commenced to clean the tank. When the man went to retrieve the fish from the tub, he was surprised to see that instead of spreading out and swimming the length of the tub, the fish had huddled together in a spot about the size of the fish tank. While I'm sure that there is some very logical scientific reason for this, that is not the point of the story. The point that I take from this story is that while we all live in a world of infinite possibilities, we often stay in the "fish tank". There are a number of reasons to stay in that tank -- that is where the people you love are, it is safe in the tank, and you have the things you need in the tank.

About 3 years ago when I decided to cram my life into two suitcases and see the world, I had no idea what I was getting into. The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want to live in the tank anymore. That said, as I reflect on the decisions that I've made, I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't just trade one tank for another. A year ago I lived on the beautiful island of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. I have friends there that I love more dearly than my own life. As my job there was coming to a close I made the decision to move back to another island that I knew well and where I could get a good job. Before I made this decision, I had dreams of backpacking and living on the fly. Those dreams didn't materialize. Instead I went back to the comfort of the tank. I try not to have regrets, but I do. It's not easy to get away from those ideas that we are told from day one -- you have to have a job, you have to have money, you have to have a roof over your head, you have to have 3 square meals a day, etc... Don't get me wrong, I like having those things, I just wonder if maybe we all swam a little further out we could learn to have those things in a different way. And maybe, we could also have the adventure of our lives. The jury is still out, but I feel those backpack dreams coming back, and I'm starting to feel ready to swim a little further from shore.

The Book of Awakening

I just recently ordered Mark Nepo's "The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have". I'm not really big on spiritual books as they usually feel a bit too preachy or too touchy feely for me. I was hesitant to pick this one up, but I'm going through one of those life moments when I feel like I need guidance. Well, I am two days into Nepo's daybook, and already I am feeling like this was a good investment. When I read today's words of wisdom, they hit me like a ton of bricks. In day two, Nepo tells a story of man who is going to paint a room. He goes to the store and buys everything he needs. He mixes the paint outside and picks up all the things he needs to paint the room. He's ready to head inside with his arms loaded down and he can't get the door open. Instead of putting down his load, he struggles with the door and his load. Eventually he falls over and is covered in red paint. The wisdom: What are you carrying around that is preventing you from opening your door? Whether it is the door to love, to success, to financial stability, we all have baggage. I had never looked at this baggage as being an actual hindrance to opening the door I am so doggedly trying to go through. Sure, these things get in the way, but I just assumed they were taking up space inside, not keeping me outside. Whatever the case may be, the question still stands: What are you holding on to that is keeping you from opening the door? Now Nepo doesn't just leave it there, because he understands that some of this stuff is stuff we need. We don't want to put down a healthy dose of fear, and we don't want to leave all of our expectations outside to whither in the grass. So, he offers this simple formula: Prepare what you need, put it down, open the door, and take in only the things that are necessary. It sounds so simple, but we all know how difficult this can be. It's like going into the grocery store when you're hungry. You end up with a whole lot of stuff that you don't want/need, and that make it really difficult to get out of the car and into the house. After the story, Nepo offers a meditation for working on putting down the bags. I'm thinking with a little practice that I may be able to put down some of my own bags. I can't wait to see what day three in this gem of a book has to offer.

S. Korea Day 2: A Day in Daejon

It’s Day 2 in S. Korea and we’re headed to Daejeon. These are O’s old stomping grounds. We make a superfast jump on the KTX, S. Korea’s high speed train system. A first class seat is a little pricey, but it was nice to have a seat by the window. There wasn’t much to see though, buildings and concrete mostly. We landed in the center of downtown. Though there were still piles of snow on the ground, it seemed a few degrees warmer in Daejeon, which was great for me. Our first stop was a cute coffee spot, The Mill, for lunch. The place was run by the cutest Korean couple. With a nice selection of sandwiches, teas, and coffees, I could see this being a regular hang out spot. And, added bonus, they serve ice cream with all the sandwiches. How cool is that?! After that we attempted shopping, albeit very halfheartedly. We wandered around a bit, visited a friend of O’s, and tried to think of what else we could do in Daejeon during the day. Nightlife is pretty hoppin’ in S. Korea, but during the day it’s pretty quiet. We finally decided to hit up a jimjilban, the biggest in Daejeon. O had been wanting to take me to one, as he said it was essential to experiencing S. Korea. So, here’s the set up: You begin at the cashier. It costs anywhere from $5-7 to get in. After you pay you receive a locker key, a uniform (t-shirt/shorts), and a towel. Your first stop is your shoe locker to drop off your shoes, and and then you head to the sauna. At the sauna you go to your other locker. It is also the place where all the naked people are. Now let me explain. The saunas are separated by gender, so I didn’t see all of the naked people in the jimjilban, just all of the naked females. Now, if you have never been in a huge locker room setting, this can be a little daunting. Even more daunting is the fact the you (well me) are literally the only brown girl in the joint. It took me a minute to adjust. So, when I got to my locker and began to undress, I meticulously folded every piece of clothing as I went along, even my socks. The closer I got to exposing myself, the more meticulous I got. Finally, standing in my skivvies staring at my neatly folded clothes, and beating myself up for not shaving my legs, I just said screw it and got down to the birthday suit. I did my best to cover up with the strip of towel I had been given and headed off to the showers. You have to shower before you can enter the hot rooms. O had briefed my before we went into this deal since no one around would speak English, and he wouldn’t be there to help. In our briefing he had mentioned something about communal soap, but all the ladies I saw had their own. When I finally jumped into the next free shower I wasn’t really sure what to do. With all those naked bodies in such close proximity, it did not feel right to have a “look around” to find any soap. Lucky for me someone had left behind a container of something. I stole a few squirts of soap, scrubbed up as best I could, and got the hell out of there. I was so happy to have my uniform on. Now the next step, the hot rooms.

All jimjilbans have common areas with hot rooms. The temperatures range from 68c – 80c. There is also a big area with mats, a place to get water, an ice room, and a snack counter. This jimjilban had a waterfall wall, and a floor with themed rooms. There was also a room temperature room with a weird animal displace case and green lights. There are sleeping caves in jimjilbans for people who want to overnight. It’s certainly cheaper than getting a hotel. After meeting back up with a squeaky clean O, we started our sweat session in a room that was 72c. It was nice and toasty. We moved up to 78c next, and I finally started to work up a sweat. After a nice nap in the green light room, we headed back to 72c. After a couple hours of sweating and napping it was time to hit the showers again. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe the second time around is not a big deal, but when I hit the shower room this time, I did not care. I bought a nice red ginger scrub and a scrubby towel from the soap counter and hit the showers like a pro. When I finally walked out of the jimjilban I felt clean and refreshed. It was awesome, and I can’t wait to do it again. We ended the night at an odenbar run by a friend of O’s known as big Perm. An odenbar is a place where you got to drink fish broth and eat cheese or chicken on a stick. Oh, and drink. It sounds a little funky, but it’s actually quite nice. Not to mention that Perm is one of the sweetest guys on the planet. A few hours and a few beers later we took a less expensive train back to Cheonan. Another awesome day.

S. Korea Here I Come!

Over the next few days I'll be posting about my recent trip to South Korea. I hope you all enjoy the pics and the ramblings :)

Through rainbows, through clouds and sky, over oceans and Japan with is velvet green peaks, and here I am, a 30 year old woman from middle-of-nowhere South Carolina, sitting in an airport in Seoul, South Korea waiting on one of my dearest friends to come and show me around. It’s New Year’s Eve, and all I want to do is sleep after the long journey. Lucky for me, my buddy O is also up for an early night. We take a bus from Seoul to Cheonan (which is where he lives). The trip isn’t too long, and the heat on the bus is working. I am in awe at seeing snow on the ground. It has been almost 4 years. We take a taxi from the bus station to O’s neighborhood. He has a cute one room apartment with a heated floor (Ah, bliss!). O tosses up some celebratory black bean quesadillas for our New Year’s Eve dinner. We also have some fancy soju (Korean drink of choice) to toast the ringing in of 2011. I would have to say my first night in S. Korea is a success.

Woohoo!

I am doing a major happy dance today because I just found out that my poem, Baobab, is going to be published in the PoetryArk anthology. And, to add to the publication news, I have 4 poems coming out in an anthology in the spring. And, if you follow my column on The Coil Review, look for a new article soon. It's good to be in print!

Finally, some traveling!

This past week I had the delight to experience some of what South Korea has to offer and to catch up with a wonderful old friend. I'll be posting some of my experiences here in the cominig days. Until then, I hope that you all had a wonderful new year. I spent the time leading up to 2011 cleaning up my house and making my goals. I'm not much for resolutions, but I believe in making some very clear goals for the new year. If you haven't sat down and thought about what you want 2011 to bring, there is no time like the present. Ask! Believe! Receive!