My newly discovered obsession is an album by a Spanish singer Concha Buika who mixes up flamenco with jazz and african rhythems and funk. I really like her most recent album called Nina de Fuego (Girl of Fire) as it has more flamenco than her other ones. I have been obsessively listening to a number of the tracks, including the one below:
I love her husky voice, vibrating with emotion. Then there is her rendition of Volver.
So... the climax of my graduate career went by in a very anti-climatic manner. Last Friday after another horrendous traveling experience I defended and I am PHinisheD. Well, kind of, there are still stuff left over to do, but I have passed. Yay. Very anti-climatic indeed. I am more worried about finding a job. What to do, what to do.
I did enjoy a really fun weekend though. My lovely Atlas bought me flowers and I celebrated with MD and CA friend.
Tonight I watched a really interesting documentary on PBS about the Miss Navajo Pageant (official site). One of the few requirements is that the contestants should know how to speak Navajo language, be over 18 and not married.
The pageant followed a very interesting schedule:
Day 1: they were asked about the Navajo government and council etc.
Day 2: they had to butcher a live sheep, clean it and cook it. Then they were tested on their grasp of the Navajo language
Day 3: they showcase their traditional skills
Day 4: The coronation
The women were beautiful, not in the glamorous Hollywood sense, rather in their smooth, tanned skins and high cheekbones and straight black hair. They seemed so sweet and so simple and so removed from the beauty pageants that are run these days where the women look so fake and decadent.
Last night Atlas and I were invited to a game party where we spent all evening playing all different kinds of games. It was so much fun!! We played Taboo (which I LOVED), apples to Apples (random), Fact or Crap (really random because hardly anyone could tell them apart!) and Spoon (a hard hitting card game). I used to play monopoly and other card and board games a lot when i was younger but these days it is always video games. Well no more I say to you. Today is the dawn of a new era and the name of this era is...
... indeed it does. It might sound trite, but hope is an amazing thing. It is wonderful to be able to look up to someone, to be inspired by someone, to aspire to be a better person. We all need to have hope and have ideals.
As I write this, I know that it is easy to laugh at my words and their idealism. But what's the point of constant cynicism? We need to hope and we need to dream and dream big.
I am happy to be here in the US right now.
Meanwhile, it seems Southpark already has an episode out about the election results. You can see some of the clips here and the whole episode is on hulu i think. Kind of funny :-)
Can you believe tomorrow's Day Zero? Why are all day zeros so anti-climatic? My big day zero is approaching fast and yet I am starting to feel that anti-climatic feeling.
Anyway, back to tomorrow. I hope I am happy tomorrow night. I really do.
Meanwhile I read a very nice blog entry by Linus Torvald's blog who talks about the danger of being "against" something as opposed to "pro". This is a really nice and subtle point.
