What a year! (in song and picture)

January - August: Omaha

January: St. Paul

February:

March: Iowa

Song of the year, probably.

April: Oberlin

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=574716835734&set=a.561319449204.2078558.4305485&type=3&theater

One of the happiest parts of the year for me...so honored.



May: Denver

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=592704847614&set=a.592704298714.2084074.4305485&type=3&theater

June - August: Summer Omaha Ultimate League

August: San Francisco

August - December: good ol' Chevy Chase

November: Boston

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=610757914124&set=a.610757899154.2089215.4305485&type=3&theater

December: New York City

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2813041202610&set=a.2813015681972.2140717.1156186137&type=3&theater

Looking forward to a wonderful 2012!

Twenty...something. (Part 2)

You may have seen this before, but life is beautiful.

Fall in the DC area has seemed especially beautiful to me this year. I guess it's because I haven't spent one here for 5 years. Fall was beautiful in Ohio, too, and I think it was in Omaha but I can't remember - it was such a busy, emotional, intense people-filled time. (I know that football happened.)

This fall, I've had the privilege to go for walks and runs in many different parts of the area - on the trails I grew up on, in the farmers' markets of Kensington and Silver Spring, Columbia Heights and Dupont Circle, the neighborhood. I wonder if I've been thinking about the beauty because, for the first time in a long time, I've had time and space to think. Sure, underemployment has been in the back of my mind since August, but recently I've thought more about enjoying the space it's giving me.

And, wonderfully weirdly and unexpectedly, the opportunities. I've gotten to interview everywhere from right on U Street, to Hyattsville, to Rockville, to the freakin' Audubon Naturalist Society in good ol' Chevy Chase right off of Jones Mill Road that I went to in elementary school. Every interview opportunity, I've recently realized, has given me the opportunity to get to know my home all over again. And begin to think about calling it home in a new way, as an Anna with some new experience under the belt that I wear almost every day.

This has been my twenty something so far. Leave high school saying goodbye to wonderful friends, and go to college, and go to El Salvador, and go to Spain, and live in a brand-new U.S. city for a year and see more of the country, and make a ton of wonderful friends of all ages and walks of life, and then come home with all those new experiences and friends in my life AND get to re-connect with home, and old friends again. Discover and learn about the world and myself along the way, and the whole time, particularly when the going gets tough, try my hardest to remember that I have an incredibly wonderful, interesting, dynamic, supportive family. Especially the immediate ones. Mom, Dad and Daniel, I love you so much.

I am the luckiest lady I know.

So. Now what? What am I gonna do now that I think I want to be here for at least another year and a half?

For a little while longer, I gotta keep writing cover letters. Keep working part-time in the office at Saint Luke. Thanksgiving came early for me this year, when I realized just how fortunate I am to have a good job this fall - it may be the not very mentally stimulating tasks of opening doors, stapling bulletins, and stuffing envelopes, but I get to work in a comfortable environment and I also get to work in a food pantry.

Keep counting my blessings. I am especially grateful this time for the ones that currently live within a 10 mile radius.

And, as Jamie Cullum sings, "I'm a twenty something and I'll keep being me."

That is so wonderful. And beautiful.

Twenty...something. (Part 1)

Thank goodness I posted about "Fly" last week, because it reminded me to listen to it again. Still need to work on that "Songs to Cheer You Up" playlist.

There have been quite a few articles out about twenty-somethings lately. I've most recently read this one:

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/21277.html

Then, there's the New York one (featuring a very famous Obie on the cover):
http://nymag.com/news/features/my-generation-2011-10/

And, the first one I read, I think, from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html

A Google search of the "word" "twenty-something" revealed two more fascinating finds, one I'd forgotten about and one I'm now happy to know exists:

"Twentysomething", by Jamie Cullum

aanndddd.....guess what online community I just joined!
http://www.20sb.net/

I feel fascinated with this phrase tonight because it describes my current state right now in more ways than one. I'm 23, a month and a half away from 24, AND I'm trying to do...something. To be something.

What is that something? Everyone talks a lot about how hard it is to get a job these days, and I wouldn't disagree with that with the national unemployment rate at 9%. (Can we pause there for a second? This number means that it is quite possible that, when you consider the groups of people that you know in groups of 100, 9 of them don't have a job right now. Of course, there are factors that won't make that true for everybody, but I need to go to bed soon-ish so maybe I'll blog about those another time.)

But I will fully acknowledge that part of the reason I haven't gotten more fully employed in the past few months is because I'm not sure what my something is. As Cullum sings about, I've gone to college and gotten my head stuffed full of knowledge and life experiences. And then LVC. So now...what? Where? Why? When? HOW?

Plus love and family.

But sometimes you go to bed and wake up and everything feels clearer.

So, on that note, here's a good song by John Mayer (who now looks kind of like Johnny Depp), and this will be continued, because it can be more specific than it is now.

"Fly"

Currently listening to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks to Ms. Kerryanne Miske for tipping me off to this song, originally. It's a good one for the "Encouragement (During Un(der)employment)" list. The music video's a little nuts, but I lovee the song.

Another song I am loving right now is Nickelback's "When We Stand Together." I've never really been a huge fan of Nickelback, but their new song has such a wonderful, wonderful message...and I think it's actually musically better than their songs that have been about things such as wanting to be a rock star and live in a big house.

Well. Now that you've gotten the musical update...

What a crazy busy fun Halloween weekend, full of Halloween-y and not Halloween-y things. A grand mix of the old and new...parties with old friends, second Oberlin Alumni Club of DC gathering as a real alum, party at my wonderful next door neighbors' house - without the rest of my family there - with people who remembered me age 10 and under, and giving out the trick or treat candy instead of going around to get it. I've been "on the other side", as we were saying, for awhile now, but it was so fun to get to do it again at my own house.

I am a lucky girl, because I had TWO job interviews today, and they both went well. And lately I have just been SO incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work at church. I confess that I wasn't wild about doing it when I first got back, even though I had no other job prospects. Today, one of my interviewers joined the chorus of people who have told me, "Geez, I sure feel sorry for your generation" - she said, "When I graduated, Clinton was president." That was the first time I had thought about it in that way, and it makes a lot of sense. I was 4-12 during those years, and life seemed pretty solid. It may have been because I was 4-12...but I feel like there were other reasons, too.

I'd like to write more, but I am pretty wiped from the crazy Halloween stuff! Also, I took a nice long drive out to Laariland Farm today and picked some apples and broccoli, so that probably has something to do with it too. The broccoli is the best broccoli I have ever tasted - very good looking and full of flavor. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS!!!

More later.

One for October

Aaaannnnd the massive life update email that just went out doubles as a blog post to make up for the entire month of October! Woooo!

I do want to keep blogging though. Felt good to get this email written.


Dear family and friends,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying fall wherever you are. I've been wanting to write a life update for awhile, so, without further adieu, here goes! (Apologies to many of you for whom the following information is repetitive...still thought you would want to be included!)

I finished my year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Omaha this past August, and after a delightful San Francisco Bay area vacation, moved back home to Chevy Chase, MD, but with a certain twist - my parents are living up in the Big Apple of New York City, while Dad is a visiting professor at NYU Law School, for the 2011-2012 academic school year. As many have said, "That gives the phrase 'living at home' a whole new meaning." I am quite lucky with my timing and everything...

...for more reasons than one. Finding a new job, in these Occupying days, seems not to be a piece of cake. Some of you would remember that, over the summer, I was hoping to get a part-time (unpaid) jazz research internship in the National Museum of American History (NMAH). I applied at the end of June, and was supposed to hear about whether or not I was accepted by the end of July/beginning of August. By the time I got through to the intern manager the week before Labor Day and she told me that my application was still in circulation, I was tired of waiting, and told her that I would re-submit my application materials for the spring, and see what happened then. Instead of pining over the internship I did not (and may not) get, I hope to use a substantial portion of the rest of 2011 (and maybe into 2012, if I decide I need the research time), to finish up an article about the life of Frank "Count" Williams (one of my independent jazz research subjects during my senior year of college, for those who don't know) and submit it to a scholarly music journal.

In my original, summer-planning dream world, I would have been able to have the internship part-time and to work in a non-profit organization part-time.  By the time I got through to the NMAH, I had been extremely fortunate to be offered part-time work in the office of my home church, Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, MD. This is a bigger church than the two I worked for last year in Omaha, and so my tasks are not quite as wide-reaching as "planning and coordinating community outreach programming".  I watch the door, answer phones, and work on bulletins and other communications material. But one aspect of this job that I do love is that Saint Luke has a food pantry, and I help out with food bag intake, packing and distribution - something that I haven't done too much of in previous work or volunteer experiences.

So, working at church, the occasional dog-sitting gig, lots of love and free dinners from family and friends, and not having to pay rent have combined to keep me doing just fine. I have been writing lots of cover letters to non-profit organizations that are not churches. As some of you know (though this is my first time announcing it to a lot of you!), my year in Omaha has led me to seriously consider seminary and becoming a pastor. Ideally, I would love to gain some more development, administrative, or program coordinating experience at a non-profit that is not a church, so that I have more "broadening" experiences before pursuing seminary. (Though it is a serious consideration, it is not a definite yet...other grad school ideas include social work and musicology.)

The areas of non-profit organizations that I seem to be the most attracted to include mental health advocacy and education, homeless services, and education and youth services. At this point I have sent out somewhere around 25-30 applications and have had three interviews (which have been good experiences even though they have not led to hire), and am still writing cover letters. However, I am beginning to consider administrative positions in pretty much anything, as well as retail and restaurants, for a temporary job "fix", since it would be good to start having a little more going into the savings.

 I am thinking that I'm going to begin making informational interviews happen soon, so if you know of any places that you think I might be interested in (even if they aren't hiring), I'd be grateful if you'd be willing to let me know about those!

I think that's it for now! I'm looking forward to continue seeing those of you that I'm seeing, staying in touch with those of you I don't see as much anymore, and seeing a good deal of you during the forthcoming holidays. Please feel free to write to me whenever! To my family and friends in the DC and NYC areas, please keep me posted on dates for sports games, concerts, plays, etc...I know I've got a few to catch comin' up!

Love,
Anna

Tolerance - of others, and ourselves.

I wrote this last week- but I still really want to share it. 


In spite of all the stupid crap that happens in the world that just sucks, ranging from air show plane crashes to stabbings to famine to hate, which I often tend to think a lot about...there are events and moments when I just get so, so happy with the state of the world, and I want to celebrate two of those tonight. They are very different from each other.

a) The Rev. Thomas Kenea's ordination. I wrote about this on Facebook -

"sometimes really beautiful, really great things happen. like the Rev. Thomas D. Kenea gets ordained at Saint Luke Lutheran Church, and the offering goes to ELCA malaria campaign, and wot and injera are on the reception menu. Good vibes = when your new pastor goes down to the kitchen to say thank you to the clean up crew after his ordination reception."

- but I couldn't go without mentioning it again. It's not often I feel like I can speak for a large group of people, especially one like the congregation of Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, MD where I know many people by face but maybe half by name and am still getting re-settled into - but it feels hard to exaggerate the sense of relief and joy and gratitude and happiness that seems to be exuding from people's bodies and spirits when the subject of Pastor T being among us has come up. 

He's talked a lot about how cool it is that 100 years ago, when many of the Swedish/German-rooted congregations and churches were being formed in the USA, the first Lutheran missionaries came to spread the gospel in Ethiopia...and now the tables have turned a tad. And he, the congregation, his family...seems like we pretty much could not be happier about it.

I've never used this phrase in any of my blog or social media writing before, I believe, but as Pastor T said when I congratulated him this evening, "God is good." There are lots of different ways you can express that emotion, and many of my dear friends would choose a different phrase. I'm so interested by the fact that, nine and a half years after confirmation, I feel more comfortable using it now than ever before. 

okay, and as the preaching pastor said, "Easter is now", so without further ado:

b) 21st-Century Popular Television and the De-stigmatization of Mental Health. Yeah, I'm a recent college graduate...and I watch Glee.

 

 This is Emma Pillsbury, the high school guidance counselor. I was so, so moved by a scene from one of the last episodes of season 2 that, when I was watching the episode again today, I decided I wanted to transcribe it here.

In the scene, Emma is seeing a therapist. It opens as she is thoroughly, repetitively scrubbing and dusting a chair. 

Emma:  Ok! So. Nice and clean.

Therapist: I'm afraid we're out of time.

E: What do you mean I just sat down.

T: Well the therapeutic hour is 50 minutes and you just spent 48 of them disinfecting the chair. Emma looks stunned. It's clear you have a fairly severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder

E: Really?

T: OCD is very treatable; a combination of medication and behavioral therapy will give you some relief from those feelings of, of panic that you might feel if, say, you think you forgot to unplug the curling iron-

 

E: Oh my god I think I forgot to unplug the curling iron.

T: There's a stigma in this country about mental illness. I mean, depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar - they're hard to diagnose, so, people don't always appreciate that they're serious problems, but they are.

E: Yeah, um - I dunno.You know, I'm not sure I wanna lay on a couch and tell some stranger all of my secrets. And, I don't want to start popping pills just so I can turn into something that other people want me to be. This is how I am. This is who I'm supposed to be.

T: Your illness is not who you're supposed to be. It's keeping you from who you're supposed to be. Emma is crying. You're a guidance counselor, right? So if a student came to you and said they had diabetes, would you give them insulin? Or would you say "Hey, that's just who you're supposed to be?"

E: I- I just feel, um - I feel so ashamed.

T: Right. Well, you're not alone. After my daughter was born I had a severe case of post-partem depression. I would look down at this beautiful baby girl, like she wasn't even mine. Like all the color just came out of the world. But you know when the moment was when I started to feel just a little bit better? When I admitted that I needed some help. Well, that's what I'm here for. Can I tell you something, Emma? You're gonna feel better. I promise. I'm gonna give you a SSRI, we'll start with a low dosage, and that'll help you hold onto the serotonin that your brain naturally makes anyway. And I'd like to see you in about a week.

Reflections

Today is very strange. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel. I was definitely getting frustrated with all the media coverage leading up to today. I know why it existed, but there was so much.

I subbed for a member of the adult bell choir at my church this morning, so was up way earlier than I normally am, and collapsed in front of the TV when I got home for awhile, watching the towers fall again, and the ceremonies at the Ground Zero memorial, and the towers fall again. I remember watching a fair amount of TV in 2001, as an 8th-grader, but I don't remember watching again on subsequent anniversaries or taking tons and tons of time - a whole day, really - to remember and reflect until today.

Just the other week, I visited the National Museum of American History with two friends. In the exhibition called "Science in American Life" (or something like that), there is a section about the creation of the atomic bomb and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I re-read the number I had read at some point in history class a while ago hit me the hardest its hit me thus far in my young adulthood.

The United States was responsible for the deaths of more than 200,000 people in those two bombings in 1945.

Yes, the military personnel who were responsible for the deaths and destruction of the bomb did not kill themselves in its detonation with the belief that they would get into heaven. And yes, when the atomic bomb was dropped, my country was explicitly involved in an awful war that had already claimed the lives of many. In the case of 9/11, we know what the motives of the hijackers were, and we were not at war.

But I think that number hit me so hard because from my life experience and classes of the last few years, I have realized that I really want my country to remember all of its history, with a critical (which doesn't always mean negative) collective memory instead of a selective one. As those who have dealt with mental illness and/or addictions know, recognizing and acknowledging a problem is one of the first steps on the road to recovery. I think the same is true for the conscious of our nation. As we remember and recognize our whole history, we take more steps on the road to a healthier country, ie., interfaith work such as the DC Unity Walk and educational events, particularly about Islam, that I participated in or heard about in Omaha.

There are lots and lots of good stories today about the good that people have done in the past 10 years. (Just read some in the Parade section that we get with the Washington Post.) That's an example of taking something awful (the death of a loved one), reflecting on it, and instead of spending hours focusing energy on thoughts of revenge, using that energy to create positive opportunities for others.

The national news in the last six months has been pretty damn infuriating, and there's a lot of issues to deal with. Today was sort of a reminder to me that I can take my energy of frustration with government and just sort of sit around and wring my hands...or I can use that energy to figure out something to do about it, whether it's getting in touch with the editor of my local paper or my representatives in government, or talking to people about it, or journaling or writing in this blog, or whatever. Something that transforms conflict can always be done.  This applies to other aspects of life as well. I just wish for the future that it won't take another violent and evil tragedy to remind me or my fellow citizens that.

I'm not sure I'm wild about every single sentence in this article, but I would still recommend checking out E.J. Dionne's column, "It's time for the nation to let go of 9/11".

Don't forget to tell your loved ones how you feel about them. And sleep well, remembering that bad things have happened, but there is ALWAYS something you can do about them.

Love,
Anna

Onward! ....Stickin with the google empire. And wearing sunscreen!

Good morning, earthquake survivors. Damn are we lucky...

I tried to go back to wordpress, but I seem to have forgotten my password, and they only have my now defunct Oberlin email address on file. Oh well. I shall remain a Google citizen blogger.

So...we had an earthquake! We are so still not over that.

But really, I wanted to re-post some parts of an article from yesterday's Washington Post about skin cancer:

"True or false: Skin cancer accounts for about half of all U.S. cancers. True. Each year the number of new cases exceeds that of breast, colon, lung and prostate cancer combined. About one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime."

"True or false: You can get skin cancer only on areas exposed to the sun. False. You should examine your skin at least once yearly - the American Academy of Dermatology recommends that you 'check your birthday suit on your birthday' - or more frequently if you are at higher risk."

"True or false: Too many people skimp on sunscreen. True....To achieve the protection claimed on the label, adults should use two tablespoons of lotion applied to the entire body. Choose a product with a SPF factor of at least 30, which, applied scrupulously, should allow you to stay in the sun without reddening 30 times longer than normal."

All emphasis added. This is from the Health section of yesterday's Post, ConsumerReportsHealth.org

Don't forget your sunscreen for the dog days!

More blogging to come as I re-settle into the DC area. The names of the main games now are unpacking and writing cover letters.