it's so cute it hurts. i miss grandma, mistress of the best kekse in the universe.

While I got ill with my stomach in europe-- My mother was rushed to the emergency in florida because of stomach ulcers..

While I suddenly felt a pinching pain in my arm, and rolled up my sleeves to find a large area turned black, blue & purple.. and wondering if I should rush to the emergency because I have no idea what was happening to me-- My mother's arm was hooked up with iv..

While I was visiting the sick mother of my husband--- My own mother had taken ill and thousands of miles away in another country..


Neither of us knowing what the other was going through..

It wouldn't be the first time.
..............................

I call it physical empathy.

Court backs EU citizens' spouses

The European Union's top court has ruled that non-EU nationals married to EU citizens are entitled to live in their spouse's country.
The court overruled a law in the Republic of Ireland, which grants residency only to those who have previously lived in an EU member state.

The European Court of Justice had studied the cases of four non-EU nationals married to Irish citizens.
It said the Irish refusal of residence permits contradicted an EU directive.
"The right of a national of a non-member country who is a family member of a Union citizen to accompany or join that citizen cannot be made conditional on prior lawful residence in another member state," the ruling said.

"The (EU) Directive applies to all Union citizens who move to or reside in a member state other than that of which they are a national, and to their family members who accompany them or join them in that member state."

The case against the Irish justice ministry was brought by four African men married to EU citizens resident in Ireland. The men had been refused residence permits.
The court said the host member state "is, however, entitled to impose penalties, in compliance with the Directive, for entry into and residence in its territory in breach of the national rules on immigration".

It was about time. From 2005 until now, any non-Irish-but-EU-citizen married to a non-EU citizen has usually spent over 6 months without documents, and anxious whether being approved or not. Of my friends, those who rushed usually got refused.

Several of my friends married to non-EU citizens, resident here once, were denied this. Even when the spouse is American and the EU-spouse is British...

Incredibly enough, M got the the residency. After 14 months... when it is already too late.

and so the far the result has scared the shit out of me:

"I was switched from Ortho Tri-Cyclen to Femcon FE last year, and it caused me to gain twenty pounds, caused spotting that lasted for a month and a half with no real "period" to speak of, and gave me migraines. My doctor told me to stick it out for two months - I did, and promptly went back on OTC."

Its kind of silly, but the gaining twenty pounds scared me more than any of the other stuff, not that constant spotting isn't terrifying either

After spending almost a day in the plane, it touched down gently.. [always at that point I'm happy]..

I've got stuff to do [apart from unpacking suitcases]..

But eventually i'll get around to updating about my travel stories and uploading pics, in my new journal. [not sure if i'll be using this one so much anymore].

......................................

note: The experiments with the wet medium [watercolor paints], in combination with coloured pencils [to make abstract art] turned out fine [according to me]... infact I think i've made a breakthrough, and I can't wait to make more of those kinds of art.
......................................

WEL TERRUSTEN [slaap lekker]

tot ziens.

GIRL TALK
http://illegal-art.net/girltalk

So, I kinda love and kinda like “Girl Talk” (aka Gregg Gillis). All of the tracks are complied of seamless splices of timeless yet nostalgic songs. In one song, it would be Jay-Z mixed with Ace of Base and Hoku with maybe some Micheal Jackson, Coldplay, Radiohead, MIA, and nameless past Top 40 one-hit wonders. He writes albums to be albums, not individual tracks, so the whole album flows together, and you could leave an album or two on instead of a dance mix one night. It’s energizing and somehow makes me remember my childhood, and recent dancing days at the same time. Some people might not the music he splices with (some classic 80’s and 90’s with recent pop/rap) or find it too repetitive, but it works for me. It was actually recommended to me for workout music, and I second that!
You can go to his site and pay ANY price for his new album, “Feed the Animals” here.
The label, “Illegal Art”, has a few sample tracks for download off of his other albums too.

Recommended tracks: “Still Here”, “Set It Off”, “No Pause”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Originally published at discojing.com. You can comment here or there.

every single one of us is going to have to decide what he or she thinks not only about the crash, 2,000 years ago, of Messiah into space/time but also about how we understand and engage the records of that event that have come to us over the centuries. pray God we do it well.

--phyllis tickle

I hate waiting around airports. I'm wasting some of my money to go on the internets...
I'm on my way to see my family in Irvine. It sounds like my aunt has super Iranaian plans for the whole week so I'm looking foreward to that. But I seriously can't wait to get back to Tokyo on the 31st...even though most of my friends are gonna be in the US...EBONY, REN, WE MUST HANG!
And I really want to go to Hanabi taikai

In other news, got all my medical stuff taken care of so I can relax...I wanted to get the spots on my legs checked again, and the doctor did a biobsy which is what I think should have been done from the get go instead of this "oh it's a bug bite" business. Also got the first part of the HPV vaccine, now I just have to worry about who's gonna give me the two other shots in Tokyo.

TMI but for some reason my gyno was super insistant that I go on birth control pills ASAP even though I don't really have medical issues or am currently that active. It's new and chewable(wtf?) called Femcon Fe, I've heard really good things but then on this message board some girl kept on saying she kept bleeding all the time and it made her want to die, and now I'm all freaked, any of the gals on my f-list try this before?

This keyboard is so fucked

The fitness center in one of the places I now work offers Eskrima, among other things...

Hmmm. 

In other news, I am planning on starting dance again upon recieving my first paycheck.  There is also the meditation class, burlesque, and yoga.  Maybe I will be getting rid of that stubborn extra 15lbs after all.

First the progress shot--



Now the update. Looks like I'm moving to Abu Dhabi, UAE.

It is a high-paperwork move and I don't know when exactly my rear will be
in the plane seat. I've been loving life in Louisville KY but I miss S. and
Heathcliff something fierce, so I'm really hoping no huge delays. Before I
leave, I'm trying to resolve the series about living in Lahore. I'll show
it in August @ Garner-Furnish Studio.

We can't stay in Pakistan. The PK rupee has taken too great a dive against the dollar.
It is expected to drop still more,and we have financial commitments in the States.

It's funny-sad, of all the big scary have-to-leave-Pakistan-quick potential problems,
the ones we went over exhaustively before going? The exchange rate barely rated,
as the PK rupee was basically tied to the dollar.

I have difficult feelings about ~having~ to leave, and my time in Lahore was intense
in all kinds of ways still to be processed. I'm glad I have this series in progress
so I can paint it all out.

So, I am the art teacher (leaving next Thursday) and 1) I don’t have all of my ideas finalized and 2) the ideas I did send to the staff were not approved/un-approved and I wasn’t told if they had the materials I need.

Here’s the breakdown of what I need:
Kindergarten (5) [20 kids]
First (3) [27 kids]
Second (5) [4 for 27 students, and one activity for 13]
Third (4) [19 kids]
Fourth (4) [12 kids]
Fifth/Sixth (3) [14 kids]

I’m the art teacher, so I need to have… art activities.
I want them to make a scrapbook, which I can display at the end of the program, each day their art goes inside. I don’t know if I will make this a ‘bound’ book or if I will just make a file folder to hold everything that they can decorate and tie closed with ribbon.

Other things I’m thinking about:
- Make a Christmas Tree with thumbprints (green and red finger paint/acrylic paint, construction paper, maybe glitter)
- Mosaics (colored construction paper, glue, scissors)
- Paper Snowflakes/Fiesta Decorations (coffee filters, colored tissue paper, scissors, string)
- Maybe make puppets (brown paper lunch bags, felt/fabric pieces, glue, feathers, yarn, etc.)
- Collages (magazines, glue, scissors)
- Weaving (colored construction paper, scissors, tape)
- Picture Frame (wooden craft sticks, paint, brushes, glue, decorations)
- Bookmarks (cardstock–heavy paper, scissors, glue)
- Mobile (wire or a wire hanger, string, decorations they make out of wire or colored paper)
- Make your own printed paper/stamps (white crayons, watercolor paint, make stamps out of potatoes or pieces of foam)

I don’t know how these should be divided though (some of them can be used for more than one age group), and I’m thinking of bringing some coloring pages with me (I just bought a Wall-E coloring book ^_^).

Here’s where I’ll be at:

View Larger Map

A crapton of people have added my LJ lately but not ever commented or introduced themselves. If you added me and you know me (new journal, etc) please tell me cuz I'm not psychic XD If you added me and don't know me, could you just be like "hey I added you because you like (fill in the blank)" or whatever and I'll add you back?

DANKE

Doctor stuff I need to do:

• See an ophthalmologist for an in depth eye exam.
• See a dentist about my twenty+ year old fillings and sealants.
• Go for my twice yearly girly exam.
• Get my yearly boob sonogram/ultrasound.
• See the GP about:

                    The pain that I still get in my hands most mornings.
                    The pain I’ve been having in my chest.

Stuff I should do but won’t because I don’t even know where to start here:

• See a podiatrist about my feet, particularly how they affect my alignment.  
• See an orthodontist and dental surgeon about my TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint pain in the jaw).

Stuff I would like to get done but cannot in Korea:

• See a dermatologist to have the tumors caused by my dermatosis papulosa nigra removed. (I would never let a doctor here touch my skin unless it was an emergency. Even back home I only see doctors with experience with dark skin.)

Stuff I need to do but probably won’t anytime soon:

• Get that colon exam you’re supposed to get at 35.

.

Dream:

I dreamt that I woke up from being unconscious, laying face-down with my face buried in sand.. I raised my head to look around and found a pal laying beside me [initial "N"] and people were gathered around us..

there was more to it but I forgot now
[I know a question was asked, and an answer given]

~ spending the last night in Nijmegen
~ packing for tomorrows trip to Amsterdam [where we'll sample the Hi-Tech hotel] and spend one night there -

~ then thursday leave on the plane back to curacao

~ 9hrs on the PLANE - ::shiver::

.........................................


~ managed to do a number of artworks [watercolor & colored pencil Abstract].. [i tend to like organic designs]

~ met one of the dutch artist at his exhibition.. introduced myself, and it so happened that he does similar abtract art as I was doing the previous night.. [we shared our technique with each other.. hehe that was fun]

.........................................

So europe trip has been great - Holland, Germany, Belgium

tot straks.
....................................

PS: [I am NOT looking forward to the 9hrs plane ride]

I really hope he can finish the program at Resolution Ranch soon and stay clean after of course. He's doing so much better, but there seems to still be this "being bad is cool" additude that worries me about him relapsing once free.


We saw the Dark Knight today, VERY INTENSE.

Tomorrow I got a doctor's appointment and then heading the boonies for two days to spend time with my grandma.

I disappeared again, sorry! My friends from Vienna came back and my 3 girlfriends from Germany and Korea; and then some other stuff.
For example being occupied with my pretty stalkers who came all the way to Vienna, of course only for me.^~
Cori, you know running in each other 3 times in a row is not a coincidence.
(That part is meant to be taken very seriously, of course!)

Well, in the following sum up I won´t be able to not sound like a cocky, boasting bitch so bear with me.

Well, I was in Yomiuri Land, finally! With...someone! XD
I was surprised that apart of a sunburn I did not get injured there.


Now to the hopefully more wrong-sounding part; if you girls would like to be seated on the reserved table at Atom with a "model" and a "designer" (or in my words- rich male bitches a.k.a.hosts. XD)who pour you 20 000 Yen Champagne
OR
be seated with the old and only real elite of Men´s Egg (Not that I have any idea what Men´s Egg is. Officially.) chatting for hours and getting drink after drink
you better stick with the tag team that´s Sarah and me.

She has the courage and power to pull it through and I have the eye and the flirting technique. I´m so glad she and Andrea are back here, my loneliness before their arrival knew no boundaries. ;_;
So for Sarah, here´s us and my Kyaba-cho hair (I´ve got it done in Atom):

( My hair has the power over me )

(By the way, girls I have done my research and I´ve got to tell you so much!)

Eva, I only wish you would have been with us too!

Oh, and while sitting on the table with before mentioned the manager of the Club from saturday (not Atom!; I know, unthinkable. XD;) walks by and pulls out a hand full of drink tickets, gives it to me, then pulls out of another pocket his card and hands it over to me.
According to his mail he wanted to talk with me. Awww^^
(As an explanation, that guy is insanely attractive to me which caused me to have a dumbly grin contest with him everytime we saw each other. XD;
I probably should take back the above boasting now. On the other side, what works, works, right!?)

And yesterday, I spent the day Shitamachi style with a Shitamach-er (Beautiful word creation here) and the night Yamanote way by meeting lovely Andrea, then a nice drive through the lights of Tokyo.

Here something for the girls who like it cute and Shibuya (in Shitamachi though):


Try to guess what his profession is! (No, it´s not as obvious, as you probably think. XD;)

In not so hyper news, a cold took my voice and the sales my money.
Plus walking around in the heat after a treatment in the hospital is not the brightest idea I´ve ever had.
Till soon!