Oster, April 1990 Vierwaldstatter See, CH

happy Easter! Photos from 1990... boat ride on the Vierwaldstatter See from Luzern to Burgenstock and back. What a good trip with my Zurich amigos!

impossible to answer but tried to give a list of my favorite books on a site..... so many favorite books. as a college professor I have spent 30plus years reading, recommending, creating curriculum. A recent favorite is Istanbul, by Pamuk! Wow such history, perspective, a good story of growing up! Prior to that was Pankuj Mishra's An End to Suffering. (I am such a NYReview of Books junkie).

My all time favorite gay book is Becoming a Man, by Paul Monette! Whoa what a story... the best yet! Another Country by James Baldwin has to be the best NYC novel ever!

my long time favorite social perspectives are by the iconics such as: Richard Hofstadter, C Wright Mills, Peter Gay, bell hooks, Sindiwe Magona, Ann Burack-Weiss all being other Columbia University faculty/grads. Havent read President's Obama's memoir, but as an alum, I instinctively understand his perspectives. (My first college years & degree in art from Brooklyn College and then time at the NY Art Students League, so love Lee Bontecou, Sylvia Stone, Pearlstein...). In the last year or so, I have mostly religiously read endless issues of Art Forum so I am also a bit out of the literary au courant news!

I know a bunch of authors/publishers/editors so biased towards their works. love the Harry Potter series... (no one predicted Arthur would be the publisher! whoa) I wrote a letter to the Diane von Furstenberg crew , they replied with her book! What a fast good read!

love the classics such as Dante, Freud, DW Winnicuit, deTocqueville, Marx, Habermas, James Joyce, Agnes Smedley, Pema Chodron, Georges Simenon!

I am busy working so I am gathering my next reading list... Bolano, Nathalie Serraute.... Every 5 years or so, Ihad a year to just read all who I have to read. in 2002, I read Dante, Saint Augustine, the Tibetan book of living & dying, then James Joyce! I will die before reading it all but maybe I have some clues to the next life..( ?)

hugs, peace, compassion

Koln Gut Freitag 10 Avril 2009

Koln is a metaphor for my Good Friday. 3 visits to Koln on Good Friday. 1987, 1988, 1990. Love coming into the hauptbahnhof and seeing the Koln Dom! Certainly one of our world's memorable vistas!

The b/w are in April, 1987, my first visit to Koln. Travelled with a friend and we went to the Dom, then walk along the river, back to the hauptbahnhof. We took the sleeper train to Munich that night! The color photo in January, 1989.

Was in Koln on Good Friday, 1988, but late and decided to leave the area. There was a soccer match and i witnessed the biggest display of public drunkenness that I have witnessed anywhere before or since. The NYC Saint Patrick's Day is relatively sober in relation to that Koln nacht! Not speaking much German nor any dialect, travelling alone, I decided to continue my train journey on German railpass!

Over time religious theology has had less interest for me from any literal sense of course but also as a metaphor. My theology is that there is a spirituality in the world but it has different content and practice. I look at religious practice in an ethnographic lens. Watching, listening, appreciating. Oft times, I like the music or smells or rituals. Religious practice embodies histories.... Dordrecht, Worms, Zwingli, Saint Augustine, Akbar, Sufis, indigenous dieties. Over time, I completely doubt the reason for a cruxification. Why would a God create such a dilemma? I dont think of a Satan although I have certainly seen evil in the world. Sin oftimes is mental illness or sociopathic behavior. I appreciate social activism practiced by religous peoples but I cannot understand all the literal, sin, damnation. I appreciate the Buddhist sense of helping to ease suffering. I believe in the worth of all, social conscience, helping to ease suffering. I have no issues with those who go to "church" although I have problems with the ideological focus to force others to conform to a particular viewpoint. I particularly abhore the orthodoxy of Christians, Muslims, Jews as there is no one answer. My usual retort to Christian zealots about being saved to go to heaven is that "since I dont want to be with them on Earth, I couldnt imagine being with them in eternity". As usual the orthodox are more about what one may only know or the problems in one's head. Once again, thanks to the Obama administration for their actions to adjust the insanity of the orthodox in the hypocritical Bush years.

Happy Oster weekend!

Saw the am news shows heute for the first time in ages. Interesting to watch the spins. Big coverage on the pirate situation off Somalia. Tragic but going on for months. Relief agencies have had their cargos looted, cruise ships have been boarded over time. I last followed news that the French navy was intercepting a few months ago. I dont know how defense protocols have evolved, not following the situation recently. But, the jingoistic news coverage is fascinating! Interesting to hear the posturing about what the US should do. Once again, kudos for President Obama's statement that these are international waters and not much we can concretely do instantaneously at the moment. It is a pleasure not to hear a knee jerk reaction immediately! I will read the UN and affiliate feeds to learn more about the problem solving.

Typical Good Friday... lots of closings, people having the day off. Quiet, or quieter outside. Many parties for the weekend what with a 3day holiday.

peace, hugs, compassion

back to normal.... funding UN programmes

Kudos to the Obama administration for restoring funds to United Nations programmes such as the population fund. Research has always shown that money given to help educate women, provide better health care, and give women reproductive choice stabilizes people's lives, their communties and ultimately our world. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30164&Cr=population&Cr1= It is a joy to see science replacing a particular narrow ideology in this new administration!

thoughts again on women who have enriched my life. Spoke with my Lakewood Colorado high school buddy anoche. He spoke how the girls just loved me as I would listen to them opposed to many of the guys. His memory is that the hot girls all liked me and he was jealous! I really dont remember any of that. I vaguely remember high school actually and would love to know who all these hot girls were! lol. Of course, I was 16jahre when I graduated and then my folks moved us to NJ the December after my graduation. I just remember hanging with my buddies at the drive-in, or driving into the foothills or prarie.

It has been one of my strengths to know people from many backgrounds. I wouldnt be a social worker if I wasnt interested in hearing people's stories. I am blessed to read all of my college students' essays on a myriad of topics. Having clients/patients has been fascinating! I am always amazed by what and how people process and think!

An Oster card sent from women who meant much to me (1999 photo uploaded). Listening to older women. I usually focus on grandfathers though as I am of that age where my peers have that status. But, I do know many grandmothers or woman of that age. Always a blessing to get cards which I save. Since my Mom's death, I have particularly thought about grandmothers. I spent 50 some years with my Mom but my nieces/nephews will not have that luxury. My Mom loved her grandchildren much! I know how much she was loved by her father's mother.

The caption in the photo montage is from Andrea Bocelli (the voice of an angel!!) as my remembrance of the women who have now died. "I already hear that she can hear no longer: in silence, she went to sleep, she has already gone to sleep". Thanks much for the memories!!!

peace, hugs, compassion