Hello friends, I have been away for many reasons but not because I don;t miss all of you kind people. I will return when things simmer down at my work. In the meantime, I wanted to share this wonderful documentary.  People with developmental disabilities were asked one question: "If you could… Read full post »

In Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’ book,  One Hundred Years of Solitude, the family patriarch Jose Arcadio Buendia loses his mind and spends the rest of his days tied to a tree. The family comes out to feed him, but Jose Arcadio Buendia loses the ability to really be present in the family.… Read full post »

I am noticing too many buff legislators out there. Why do these people have so much spare time to work out while people are losing their jobs and getting thrown out into the streets? I want my lawmakers to be fat with bags under their eyes because they’re eating… Read full post »

I recently found an article by Kelly Heyboar on the Huffington Post regarding the growing acceptance of the developmentally disabled in church.  I understand that to have people in a congregation who do not follow accepted norms of conduct can be experienced as disruptive. I appreciate that… Read full post »

The attack on teachers has been escalating for years. They are humiliated, vilified and punished for not being able to solve all the world's problems in their classrooms and for fighting for a living wage.

 My mother was a teacher. She taught from 3 year olds to adults. She was equally… Read full post »

I have not been around much lately. I apologize. My colleagues and I are trying to respond to a request by a  local school district  and we need to process the paperwork and try to be in and out of schools before April, before testing season. The last thing teachers and… Read full post »

We enjoy many freedoms in the United States: free speech, freedom to assemble, bear arms, practice our religion (or not).

 But we seem to have forgotten that with all freedoms come responsibility, and that just because we are free to do something does not mean we should. Whether we should or… Read full post »

Bruno as an angel  in a school performance. He ran across the stage and grabbed the baby Jesus that year. 

My brother Bruno spent his first year in Columbus at a nursing home. This was not because he was sick all that time, but because his recovery from pneumonia had… Read full post »

I am not worthy to dust the keyboards of you Iron Poets, but "First Kiss" brought back such sweet memories of the season.... 

You were my secret santa.

We were only to exchange one gift

But you left me presents every day.

There was the candy bar (A… Read full post »

 Lola Guilt Pose #53: "I-am-so-distressed-by-you-my-paws-hurt"**

This past Monday, Lola and I attended the last night of our Fun and Games class.  After six months of puppy kindergarten(s) and clicker-based obedience classes, I signed us up for this class because I was/… Read full post »

Sorry lassies me fleet o' Buckeye Buccaneer sis late; we had to jump a fleet o' politicians in Ohio on our way to the high seas. 

We'll have our way with them -- har, har until they beg to be thrown at sea. Pirate wimmin of OS RULE!!! Woo hoo!… Read full post »

Good evening OS friends,

 I just wanted to share one of my favorite quotes this evening. It comes from a letter that Vaclav Havel wrote to his wife while in prison. I think I have always been drawn to autobiographies and oral histories of people who have overcome extraordinary difficulties and… Read full post »

Dear OS friends,

 I've gotten a few inquiries as to where I have been lately. I apologize if I have not responded as regularly as in the past. The end of September brought with it the start of a new academic year and I am now in full dissertation defense mode.… Read full post »

 In the last few years, it seems that all the dogs I have met were medicine dogs. There's my friend's black poodle who often travels to sacred space with her mom. There are all the beautiful therapy dogs who regularly visited my brother's residence and were so calm and loving even… Read full post »

If you are the average 50-year old Mozambican, you have seen  and lost a lot in your life. You have lived through the oppression and repression of the Portuguese fascist colonial regime. You have lived through a subsequent decade-old struggle for independence, which was subsequently followed by… Read full post »

This past weekend I attended a wonderful evening of belly dancing organized by Habeeba's Dance of the Arts, one of  the midwest's oldest bellydancing schools. The program featured belly dancers from across the country, as well as Habeebas' own dance troupe. In total, there were easily over thirt… Read full post »

 Portuguese has a marvelously expressive word, saudade. It communicates the profound sadness and longing for something, someone or some place that is irretrievably lost; the grief that is the memory of happiness. Saudade  has a long history in Portuguese literature and in a country a of imm… Read full post »

Today, I have been missing my brother so much, I can hardly breathe. I have tried breathing, I promise. I have closed my eyes and breathed in through my nose and tried to visualize the oxygen dissolving the throbbing pain in my heart.

It usually works. When I pulled a… Read full post »

Do you know how when you think of spritual masters, you think of loving, benevolent spiritual leaders, who hug you warmly into the bosom of universal humanity, full of compassion, love, tolerance and equanimity? 

Yeah, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is not like that. Don't get me wrong, after two yoga r… Read full post »