Don’t Get Lost in the Chaos

July was interesting. I’ve learned a great deal in this particular month. A lot of change has occurred in my life recently. Well, really everything changed. In a good way, but also a little surreal and sad, as loss always is. Well unless you lose cancer or any other deadly aliment, or a stalker, or a wart, etc, so I guess not all loss is sad, just sometimes. This loss though was.

Here’s some back story. I moved to New York City in May of 1999, which by the way doesn’t seem that long ago. I think that may be because I rarely remember the bad times. Meaning time seems much shorter than reality. No harm there. :] I also like to go on tangents as you see. Okay, I left Chicago in ’99 as it was time for me to leave (quite a fascinating story for another time), and I have now lived in NYC for eleven years and some change. For about ten of those years I was in a total of two long term relationships, with really no time in between. This, if you knew me before in Chicago, is a crazy concept. This phenomenon occurred after my first year here which consisted of a string of women, friends up for anything and a lot of sleepless nights. NYC and I had a torrid affair that first year and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Now suddenly and ironically on the anniversary of my 11th year in this crazy town I call home I am on my own again. It been almost three months now (in three days on the third…threes follow me everywhere), and I am still in this hazy fog that’s just beginning to thin out. Things are changing faster than usual. I don’t mind that. I would hate to stay the same or become someone I once was. I am just curious to how this is going to play out in the next few months…year…years…, not scared, but excited. I like to be interested in things, especially when it is my life.

I was thinking of ideas to help me clear out of the rest of this haze. I need a focus of some sort so I don’t get lost in the chaos. Something new to do. Here is what I came up with, starting August 1st, 2010 I will publish a picture I take that day everyday for a year (well to be exact I will do this everyday until July 31st, 2011). It won’t be my only posts of course, just a continuous one. I like/need things like this. I’m also interested to what the culmination of all these pictures will say after that year.

That’s all.

-Cara

Varför?

Nice.

-Cara

A $100 ‘limited unlimited’ MetroCard? No way!

This particular post is New York City Centric, so if your living in the Big Apple or know people who are, please sign or forward this to them as soon as possible…

Hello My Fellow New Yorkers,

The MTA is at it again. On Wednesday, they announced yet another round of fare hikes, including a plan to limit the number of rides on “unlimited” monthly MetroCards and jack up their price to almost $100.

Enough is enough. Transit riders aren’t ATMs, and endless fare hikes can’t be the answer to keeping our subways and buses moving. We need the politicians and the MTA to come up with a real plan for investing in public transportation, and keeping it reliable and affordable.

The first step is to show them New Yorkers won’t take this sitting down. I just signed the Working Families Party’s petition against the latest fare hikes. Will you join me? Just go to:

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2155&tag=MTA710

Stop this madness!!!

Cara

[Per: Working Families Party]

Stop Stoning

An Iranian woman in Brussels protesting the inhumane practice of death by stoning. Photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters

I just signed this AVAAZ.org petitition…

Last week a massive global outcry stopped an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, from being stoned to death.  But Sakineh still faces hanging, and today, fifteen more people await execution by stoning — people are buried up to their necks and large rocks are hurled at their heads.

Sakineh’s brave children’s international campaign shows that worldwide condemnation works. Let’s turn this family’s desperate appeal into a movement that ends stoning for good – sign the petition and send to everyone.

You will send this message to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the leaders of Iran:

We call on you to finally put an end to capital punishment by stoning and to reverse the unjust judgment in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Stop stoning, save Sakineh!

15 people are on death row awaiting death by stoning in Iran, but yesterday a woman was saved from this brutal killing by a massive international campaign. Global voices of condemnation saved her from stoning. Now I just signed an urgent petition to the Iranian government to put an end this sickening brutality once and for all and I thought you would want to join me.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/98.php?CLICKTF

The partial reprieve of Sakineh, triggered by the call from her children for international pressure to save her life, has shown that if enough of us come together and voice our horror, we may be able to save her life, and stop stoning once and for all. Sign the urgent petition now and send it onto everyone you know — let’s end this cruel slaughter NOW!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/98.php?CLICKTF

Sakineh was convicted of adultery, like all the other 12 women and one of the men awaiting stoning. But her children and lawyer say she is innocent and that she did not get a fair trial — they state her confession was forced from her and, speaking only Azerbaijani, she did not understand what was being asked of her in court.

Despite Iran’s signing of a UN convention that requires the death penalty only be used for the “most serious crimes” and despite the Iranian Parliament passing a law banning stoning last year, stoning for adultery continues.

Sakineh’s lawyer says the Iranian government “is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention” to the stoning cases. And after Turkey and Britain’s Foreign Ministers spoke out against Sakineh’s sentence, it was suspended.

Sakineh’s brave children are leading the international campaign to save their mother and stop stoning. Massive international condemnation now could finally stop this sickening punishment. Let’s join together today across the world to end this brutality. Sign the petition to save Sakineh and end stoning here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/98.php?CLICKTF

In hope and determination,

Alice, David, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES:

Iranians still facing death by stoning despite ‘reprieve’, The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/08/iran-death-stoning-adultery

Britain condemns planned Iran stoning as ‘medieval’, AFP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hjVdkvkzicGeInqw2R10rCKrqs3A

The more people join this campaign, the more powerful our call will be to save her life — please tell everyone YOU CAN.

536,222 have signed the petition at the time I did. Help get to number to 600,000.

Sign here.

-Cara

Good Morning Sunday

Twins in cabs zooming around my town singing a song I really like.

You’re welcome.

-Cara

Move On Up

Gotta go get ready for a vegan bbq. :]

Happy Saturday everybody!

-Cara