16 hours of sleep

yea, i was up til 4 am on saturday.


i napped for 2 hours, packed up the projector and laptop, lugged them to the busstop and then headed to feed and care for cats in oakland from san francisco. i got on a bus to grab bathroom stuff and my car. i drove to my doctor's appointment and shared with maryann the last week of my life.

i've ingested a lot of information.
and i am feeling really good about it.

then i headed up to the UC berkeley campus to support our young women as they presented at the Empowering Women of Color Conference.

Not to toot their horn, but they KILLED the presentation. They ROCKED it. The room was packed. They did multimedia...producing a film, skits, an interactive jeopardy game, and handled all kinds of questions from the audience like the professionals they are.

i was MORE than impressed. i saw this as the life of my organization and therefore the reason why we NEED to exist. girlsource empowers these young women to reach out to other young women like themselves and offer them an alternative and hope from what they hear and experience on the streets.

it kicks ass. they kick ass.

we celebrated, all of us: kimmy, arlene, myself, and the girls -- cassandra, tina, angie, jalena, lavonne, crystal, sylvia. we formed a circle while i played agua de la vida from salsa celtica and we hugged. we're out to save our organization, if i may be so bold.

this circle of unity is the first step towards that.

in the face of adversity we have a circle of strength. period.

so i'm putting feelers out to be creative about how to raise operations funds for us.

i like the ideas that have been shared with me:

1) approach the big guns - Ophrah, Bill & Melinda Gates Fdn
2) Partner with a University doing work in societal development. perhaps we can gain support and CONTINUED support from there.
3) Explore our options for government funding. if my tax dollars can bomb iraquis, imagine what better they can do if they directly support organizations like the one i work with?

this is all assuming that our priority as a country is to empower its young people to take the helm as leaders.

that's my priority, at least.

i need to know that knowledge is passed down and that the next generation will push my wheel chair gently, should it come down to that.

i crashed SO hard after having gelato with the girls at gelateria naia in downtown berkeley. (rose and saffron. yum.) it was hard to choose, as always. 40 flavors of bliss...but i was drawn to rose...and saffron....

i got home. medicine for krusty. i called o to get some advice re: next steps. ironically he was at the cafe next to his gelato spot in the 'nix. doppelganger living. gotta love the subtle psychic network of friends, non?

crash. out. the sunshine was insane outside, the kitties were back and forth and i noticed....

11 pm i woke up. it was dark...i was hungry and LAZY. michelle has opened her home and kitchen to me. have i taken ANY advantage of it at all?

not at all.

i basically found a snack in the fridge of sweet rice and finished watching empire records. liv is no elf in this film. but i found my new cinematic crush to replace mr. john cusack: rory cochrane. his character, lucas, was a badass with a heart of gold. i'm into that. he did a stupid thing by trying to raise funds for his record store by gambling it. but he makes up for it throughout the movie, using his smartass smarts to turn the situation around. *flutter*

i also found out from a brief imdb search that he's a fellow '72. and he was born in syracuse, ny. suh-weet. i went to school in Syracuse. perhaps he's looking for kinship?

although i think he's doing CSI, right now. and in miami, no less. hrm.

i'll have to check that out.

finished the movie and had that bad news bears feeling that the 9th inning is going to turn things around up with people kinda feeling. yay.

then i went back to sleep.

and i woke up at 8 am. and now am at the oakland house to collect my laundry and do laundry before michelle and joe come home tonight. i like having a dryer at my disposal. i need to PAY for it, but i like having the darn option. grr.

it's cold. it's the academy awards today. and i will see an august wilson play with fumi and michelle right now.

yay.