Donations

Why is it so much easier to donate clothes that no longer fit me than the ones that I haven't worn in years? They both belong in the unused category, but I just can't seem to say good bye to them. I admit it, I have a lot of clothes. Not because I shop often or anything; I just can't seem to let things go especially when they're in perfectly good conditions. I keep thinking that I'll find other ways to make use of them or find someone to give them to, but I don't. Instead they're hidden away underneath my bed. Must remind myself that my next bed should be very low to the ground, so I can eliminate this hiding place all together.

Last night a high school kid asked me for bus money. I said no, but can't stop feeling bad about it. I have no idea if his reason is true or not. Back in my younger days, I used to walk for hours and have never asked a stranger for money. I don't know what type of situation this kid is in, but I wonder if it's easier for people to ask strangers for things now than in my days.

The last time that I donated money was to this homeless man carrying a sign that reads, "Please Share Just One Quarter." Something about it made me really sad as if people get mad at him for standing near the freeway with his sign. What would you do if you were homeless, have you ever thought about that? Where would you go for anything when you have no one to turn to?

May Day Queer Contingent, Los Angeles

All I can say about my last two month is "May Day." Here's our press release and pictures below.

A “QUEER” CONTINGENT JOINS ICE DETENTION CENTER PROTEST, MAY DAY MARCH FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM AND IN SOLIDARITY AGAINST ARIZONA’S SB 1070

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Calls For Comprehensive Humane Immigration Reform inclusive of LGBT issues.

Los Angeles, CA—On May Day/International Worker’s Day, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) advocacy groups march for humane immigration reform which protects LGBTQ individuals, their partners, families, and children. Wearing red shirts and carrying gay flags, a large “Queer” contingent include members of The Latino Equality Alliance, API Equality LA, Equality California, Coalición Trans Latina, Gamba Adisa, Sin Fronteras, The Wall / Las Memorias, Proyecto Orgullo-BIENESTAR, Faith for Equality, Asian Pacific Aids Intervention Team (APAIT), Proyecto Igualdad, Asian Queer Women Activists, National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and other LGBT Groups.

“The gay community supports human rights and dignity in the application of federal immigration laws and policies. The LGBT community is well aware of the harm caused to individuals and families that unconstitutional laws like Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, which criminalizes the undocumented, and California’s Proposition 8, which denies marriage rights to the LGBT community” said Suyapa Portillo, board member of the Latino Equality Alliance and co-founder of Gamba Adisa, queer women, gender non-conforming, and trans people of color collective. “The LGBT community urges President Obama and Congress to act fairly and swiftly to update immigration laws and policies that are harmful and separate families.”

LGBTQ specific Immigration Reform Action Items include:

• Uniting American Families Act. If passed, this law would recognize more than 36,000 bi-national same-sex couples in the United States, 47% of which are raising children.
• Support the DREAM ACT for all youth and recognition of LGBT and queer youth. Immigrant youth who are LGBTQ-identified must be acknowledged in the larger fight for education and youth self-empowerment. Many undocumented youth will graduate with honors from their universities and will not be able to contribute to society and the economy because of their legal status.
• Support LGBTQ worker rights within immigration reform. Although many workers are covered under LGBTQ laws and protections in this country, these protections exclude non-documented immigrants.
• End the 12-month rule to file for asylum seekers. Twelve months is not enough time for LGBTQ immigrants fleeing trauma and violence to obtain adequate resources and representation to file for asylum.
• Stop abuse against LGBTQ immigrants, particularly transgender immigrants, in detention centers. LGBTQ people often face physical violence, rape, and emotional and mental abuse in detention. One resounding example is the case of Victoria Arellano’s death in ICE detention; Arellano died marginalized for being a transgender person and cut off from live saving health care.
• Stop all forms of militarization and violence at the various borders. Border militarization must cease immediately, particularly biometrics and infrared technology utilized to criminalize immigrants.
  

Do You Know About Pharyngitis?

Everyone gets a sore throat, but do you ever look at your tonsils to see how bad they look? My tonsils never looked this bad before and I thought that I could just get some over the counter medicine to fix it. Luckily a few curious minds asked to see them then strongly advised me to see a doctor instead. Three hours later, one nurse and doctor down, I got my first doctor's note to take two days off for Pharyngitis. Did you know that you can't get amoxicillin over the counter in the US? Everything that ends in "gitis" sounds scary.

I learned that I'm now "c o n t a g i o u s." I can cough directly into my enemy's mouth to infect them. In seven days the antibiotics will work its way to get rid of my sore throat, swollen tonsils, body-aches and chills. It's already day 4 and almost everything is gone except for the minor body-aches. Maybe I just need to start exercising at work. I should take small walks during my breaks or something. Do you take a break at work or do any stretches?

Normal Office Activities

On some Mondays, it's just way too early to share anything about the weekend. I take the lazy way out sometimes with the, "I don't remember" respond. I guess the more accurate thing to say would be "Sorry, it's just way too early for me to recall anything right now. Let's talk later." My co-workers must think that I'm either very secretive or have no life at all outside of work with my blank answer.

Anyways, talking about office life. It's annoying when the last person who finishes the coffee doesn't brew a new pot for the next person. Also when the restroom runs out of hand soap and no one seems to care enough to refill it. Doesn't anyone else washes her hands? Errr...I don't want to think about that too much. There's also the frequent spilling of coffee, sugar, etc. that people don't clean up in the kitchen. Sometimes people leave their dishes over night and not only in one sink where there are already dirty dishes in it, but in both sinks. Yes, please block both sinks so no one else can clean just like you.

No, these are not complaints. I'm only stating the fact of what I've seen before in an office. Is this normal office activities? My work is small, so our custodian only visit on the weekend. In a better world, more people would care and respect their working environment and not leave their mess for others to clean up after them. People would take care of one another and help each other out. Isn't it just common sense and common courtesy? I guess some people just don't have it. Sad.

On another note, I'm loving Neko Case right now. Her voice is always amazing to listen to when I'm happy or sad.

I Need a New Caffeine

Something is wrong; caffeine puts me to sleep. I love the taste of coffee, but most of the time, I want it for the after effects. What can be new anti sleep-stay awake beverage?

So I stopped drinking coffee about a week ago as an experiment to measure my sleeping time without it. Nothing changed much. It's weird how I tend to stay up later when I'm alone at home versus when I'm out. I caught myself yawning around 11pm the other night, but I can still go home and be up until 3am afterward. So we yawn because we're tired or bored but not that the body is sleepy. It could also be because you're low in oxygen or that you have too much carbon dioxide. Did you know that the fetus can also yawn inside the womb?


"Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World"
The Huntington Library

Celebrations

Is it that weird that my family and I don't really celebrate anything from xmas, Thanksgiving to birthdays? I feel like most people don't know what to say to me after I tell them this. They instantly become mute and wonder what I'll be having for dinner or if I ever have received any presents. When I was younger, we used to celebrate my birthday with the New Year celebration, since they are only a few days apart. I'm not sure how we stopped doing that but we did. Maybe it was after my sister and I moved away to college.

So my birthday is coming up and I will be getting that day off. My friends are more concerned about it than I am. This is not a complaint and I do appreciate that they care for me. Thank you. You know what I dislike about birthdays the most is when people demand for gifts or expect you to plan things for them. Gifts are not mandatory. Also having a wish list doesn't mean that these are the only things that your friends can get you. I actually don't really like the concept of a wish list, but I can see how it can be useful for some people.

Happy winter! Love this weather.

Morning Driving Thoughts

Do you have reoccurring thoughts while driving? Or play mind games to make the drive more bearable during traffic hours or on empty freeways? I imagine possible collision scenarios. They calm me down when certain things on the road make me nervous. Id est driving between two big rigs. So this morning while a school bus was on my left and a big rig on my right, I thought what would happen if they were to suddenly merge into one another. Would the top portion of my car get sliced off or crushed leaving me underneath one of them? One of my friend was in an accident a few months ago involving a big rig merging into her lane. Her car horn didn't alarm the other driving leaving her to merge right into the space underneath the big rig. All of the her windows shattered, but she came out amazingly undamaged. I can't imagine that my little Ford Focus would protect me as well as her BMW, but I still would like to know what my possible damage would be.