Six Degrees Of Separation

When I was a small girl, still playing board games and Barbies, the Ouija Board always promised that I would eventually marry a guy named Troy.

Just a few years ago, I met a guy named Troy, who at the time was in a relationship. When that relationship proved failure, Troy and I "hooked up." [I have no intention on marrying Troy, and we are no longer "hooked."]

Troy resides in the Logan Square, a community located on the northwest side of Chicago.

I just recently moved to the Logan Square neighborhood and live on North Troy Street.

In Minnesota, there is no shortage of Co-Op Grocery stores to shop at. In fact, within a 5 mile radius of my place there, I had 2 Co-Op Grocery stores to choose from.

Logan Square will soon be home to the only Co-Op Grocery store in Chicago.

: : : NEWS FLASH : : :

MINNEAPOLIS — A number of young Somali men in Minneapolis have gone missing in recent months, and some fear the youths are being recruited to return to their homeland to fight with terrorist groups.

One of the men who disappeared is believed to have killed himself in an Oct. 29 suicide bombing in northern Somalia, according to a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. That official confirmed the FBI and Justice Department were investigating.

Another U.S. law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities are calling it one of the first instances in which a U.S. citizen has acted as a suicide bomber.

The Oct. 29 bombings included a series of five seemingly coordinated attacks in the breakaway republic of Somaliland and the Somalia's Puntland region. More than 20 people were killed.

"We're aware of the circumstances in Somalia right now and the events of the Oct. 29 bombings. And we are aware that a number of individuals from throughout the U.S. and Minneapolis have traveled to Somalia to potentially fight for terrorist groups," said Special Agent E.K. Wilson, an FBI spokesman.

Members of the Somali community in Minneapolis said small groups of young men have been disappearing over the last year. Anywhere from 15 to 20 have left Minneapolis in recent months, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

"We know for a fact this is happening, but we don't know who is doing it," he said.

Osman Ahmed, a Somali activist, said his 17-year-old nephew is among a group of at least seven people who went missing Nov. 4.

The Associated Press is honoring Ahmed's request to withhold the name of the teen for the youth's safety. Ahmed said the teen came to the U.S. as a young child and was an American citizen, like the others who left that day.

Ahmed said his nephew was a high school senior and had a normal routine of going to school, going home then going to the mosque.

"He was a very nice guy," Ahmed said. "He was very clever. Very shy. Very cool."

On Nov. 4, he told his mother a friend would pick him up from school, but he never came home.

"We started checking hospitals, we went to the police station," Ahmed said.

The family then realized that the teen's U.S. passport was missing, and Ahmed said authorities found a flight itinerary showing the teen arriving in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 5.

Within two days, the teen called his mother, saying only that he was alive, safe and in Mogadishu, Somalia, Ahmed said. The teen gave no other details and has not been heard from since.

"We are praying to see him one day," Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who has been talking with other relatives of missing young men, said the families received similar phone calls.

Some members of the Somali community are concerned the young men are being recruited to go to Somalia and fight. The impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has not had a functioning government since 1991.

"It has to come to an end right now," said Jamal. "It has to stop. ... We have so many families grieving. We don't want any more kids to get brainwashed and programmed."

Jamal and Ahmed said it is suspicious because someone is providing money and transportation for the men to fly from Minnesota to Africa.

"My nephew, he doesn't have money for a ticket," said Ahmed. "None of these kids do."

Jamal said he hopes the situation isn't a black eye for the state's Somali community, which the U.S. Census numbered at more than 24,000 in 2006. Local activists claim the actual number is higher than that.

"We hope that this won't be an issue where the community will be looked at differently," Jamal said. "Somalis at large are very peaceful people. ... We don't want the Somali community to be looked at as a group of suicide bombers."

Source: Fox News
----------------

Remember how I live in a predominantly somalian neighborhood?

Here is another piece of news (almost as serious):
You can utilize the check boxes below my posts to "react" to the post.
(told you it was serious)

Bird*

interesting. . .

"...........using the word "interesting" allows you to keep your distance, play around with ideas and concepts in your mind, agree or disagree........" eckhart tolle

hmm..... interesting....


xox bird

A Former Pain-Body: RECOGNIZED

Because of the human tendency to perpetuate old emotion, almost everyone carries in his or her energy field an accumulation of old emotional pain, which I call "the pain-body."

pain-body: this accumulated pain is a negative energy field that occupies your mind and body. If you look on it as an invisible entity in its own right, you are getting quite close to the truth. It's the emotional pain body. It has two modes of being: dormant and active....

Tonight, I have focused my energy back to Eckhart Tolle's book: A New Earth. It is taking me quite a while to get through this book, for a few reasons. It is deep. It requires a open mind and time to process each paragraph. I knew it was time to pick it back up after talking to a friend of mine about the pain-bodies that he is dealing with. I have also been reflecting on the moments of my life that my pain-body were apparent.

The past lives in you as memories, but memories in themselves are not a problem. In fact, it is through memory that we learn from the past and frompast mistakes. It is only when memories, that is to say, thoughts about the past, take you over completely that they turn in to a burden., turn problematic, and become part of your sense of self. Your personality, which is conditioned by the past, then becomes your prison. Your memories are invested with a sense of self, and your story becomes who you perceive yourself to be. This "little me" is an illusion that obscures your true identity as timeless and formless Presence.

For some reason, as I read about pain-body's again, (which are triggered by situations that arise that are similar to something you experienced (negatively) in the past), I recalled a heavy pain-body that I once experienced.

When I was young-er, I dated a guy for a very loooooong time. Early on in our relationship, I would get soooooooooo mad at him for drinking beer. It didn't matter what the situation, if he had a beer in hand, I was PISSED. My attitude would completely change, and I would get mean. I would allow his beer drinking to ruin my day, even if he was just having a beer to cool himself down after mowing the grass on a hot day.
Today, I realized why I got so upset when he would drink a beer. My dad was an alcoholic when I was young. And when this guy would open a beer, my pain-body would go in to full effect and I would be taken back to that dark place.

Why that particular situation sticks out in my mind so much after reading that particular chapter in A New Earth, I do not know... but I can say that I learned something new about myself this evening....not only through my own experiences, but from friends experiences as well. What an honor it is when a friend allows you to advise them on the next step they should take to continue moving forward with their lives. I thank them for that opportunity. Win/Win.

A friend told me that a friend told him about an experience she had at the Cincinnati airport. While approaching the moving walkway she read a sign above: "DON'T STOP. DON'T LOOK BACK. KEEP MOVING"

Cheers to a few moments of free time to step away from the rest of the world and lose myself in a book.

XOX


Quoted is Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth.

gossip girl

Again, I am on the road in Beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I only know that it is beautiful because other people have clued me in - I get stuck in the hotel for 6 days without seeing the light of day. I don't even know what part of the state I am in!! In the short time that I have been here this weekend I have re-learned a few things about people... and living...:

• Nothing positive comes of making facebook friends out of your coworkers.
• When people are jealous, they lie.
• Alcohol draws the bold words out of peoples mouths that they have been dying to say all along.
• Just because you are happy in life does not mean people will be happy for you or with you.
  

It is my first time in a few months that I have been in the presence of my coworkers. When we get together, we work and party, update our life stories, share the 411, and spread gossip. My coworkers- the ones that I work closely with... all happen to be women. Women that THRIVE on gossip. It just so happens that the latest rumor being spread happens to be about ME. The rumor spread from a picture or two they found on facebook. What I have figured out is that this rumor is spreading quickly, and everyone is looking for evidence to confirm this rumor. OF COURSE, they have all gone to each other seeking evidence, but not one of them has come directly to me for the simple truth.

(This year, the marketing department for the company I work for decided to create a Facebook Page for the company to attract new consumers. Along with that, many of my coworkers have joined the site. A large portion of my friends list consists of coworkers - up until last night)

Honestly, I underestimated the interest that my coworkers have in my facebook page. Apparently, everyone (coworkers) checks it out fairly regularly.

--

Wisconsin is a state that still allows smoking in bars. Gross. I frequent bars and restaurants in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago that do not allow smoking in public places. I almost forgot what it was like to be smacked in the face with a cloud of smoke as you walk in to a bar. I am pretty sure I got the lung cancer last night. Need Detox. I was hung over all day - not from drinking but from the inhalation of secondhand smoke. Blah. SO... needless to say, the bar did not see me tonight. In room... with SNL.

*photo yanked from Daily Candy

xox Crista

Jilted Queensland wife auctions love rival's underwear on eBay

ha! this is great! I found this article at: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24174475-3102,00.html

A SCORNED Queensland woman is literally airing her husband's dirty laundry on a global scale by auctioning his mistress's knickers on eBay.

In a spiteful listing on eBay Australia, the jilted woman is auctioning off a pair of lacy black underpants "size humongous" and an empty condom wrapper "size small" found in her bed after her husband allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman named Kylie.

The seller, 'Anna' , says: "They are so huge I thought they may make someone a nice shawl or, even better, something for Halloween perhaps."

The eBay listing, entitled "Empty condom packet & a photo of The Tart's knickers", also comes with a detailed account of the events leading up to her discovery, in which the woman returned from work to find her husband of 22 years watching a DVD and discouraging her from entering their bedroom.

In the room she found the empty condom wrapper under his pillow and "the Tart's knickers . . . at the foot of the bed".

Anna also promises that this listing will not be the last in the matter, stating that her
husband's Harley Hog is "the next item that will probably be sold on eBay at a
start price of 99c and, of course, with no reserve!" Several bidders have already expressed interest in the motorcycle.

The embarrassing eBay listing, which does not name the husband, almost did not make the site though, as it was first taken down due to eBay's policy against selling secondhand underwear, spokeswoman Inessa Jackson said.

"We let her know about the policy and instead she's now selling a photograph of the offending knickers," she said.

"eBay does connect colourful buyers with colourful sellers and I wouldn't be surprised if someone did buy these items, though I couldn't speculate on who would buy them or why. "This is obviously very therapeutic for this woman and it must be a great channel for her views on cheating and the sanctity of marriage."The listing, which has a starting price of just 69 US cents, has no bids but has attracted a few comments of support. More than 2500 have viewed the auction, however, and with five days to go the listing has also been added to eBay Australia's Best of eBay site(http://bestof.ebay.com.au/).

"This is obviously very therapeutic for this woman and it must be a great channel for her views on cheating and the sanctity of marriage."

The listing, which has a starting price of just 69 US cents, has no bids but has attracted a few comments of support.

More than 2500 have viewed the auction, however, and with five days to go the listing has also been added to eBay Australia's Best of eBay site (http://bestof.ebay.com.au/).

interesting. . .

"...........using the word "interesting" allows you to keep your distance, play around with ideas and concepts in your mind, agree or disagree........" eckhart tolle

While in Chicago this past week, I attended a diversity training required by the company I work for. During this diversity training, we were broken off in to groups and given mock situations to discuss - about how we would handle the situation if faced with it while involved in a work activity.

One of the mock situations we discussed involved us being at an event/hair show. One of our best clients (who we like and trust, and who likes and trusts us) mentions he went to see the play Rent, and expressed that he thought the gay people in the show were "disgusting."

To me, this seemed an easy situation. I would simply respond be saying "Hm. Interesting." Using the word "interesting" allows you to respond while keeping a distance from the comment/opinion made.

Apparently, I had the WRONG answer. According to the leaders of the diversity training, I should have asked the guy to not say things like that while in the presence of me or my company - because that does not match the culture of our company. Understandable. BUT the trainers of the diversity program wanted to hear from me and the rest of our group that a comment being made about gay people would offend me! Also, (speaking to a group of all women) they (diversity trainers) found it hard to believe that any person in that room would NOT be offended if someone made a snide remark about women. I would not have even been even slightly offended - and I have more gay friends than I do pairs of underwear! (I don't even think the boys would be offended by such a comment!!)

I can understand that most people would get offended when opinions such as these (even if they are not linked in any way, shape, or form to that opinion) are made.
Myself on the other hand can and will accept that everyone has an opinion and not everyone's opinion is the same as mine. If someone has the opinion that I am ugly, or dumb, or eat weird, or whatever, that does not affect me in any way. I am comfortable with who I am and what my beliefs and opinions are - so why allow another person's opinion to have an affect on me - let alone offend me??

Here is what I have to say to the company that facilitates diversity training. Some people (believe it or not) have become comfortable living in their own skin and facing any situation that the present moment may bring. There have been a variety of situations happen throughout my 26 years that have conditioned my comfort level of living in own skin, just being me, and living in the present (what happened in the past is so 2 seconds ago and i have yet to face the future.) While focusing on keeping my ego in check (thanks to Ekhart Tolle) I have learned to not allow my ego to be affected by other peoples ignorance. I have also let go of any ignorance that may have lived within my own ego. The statement "i'm offended" implies volition. Most people allow themselves to be at the mercy of that thought or statement and allow themselves to become this very thought - they ARE offended. MY thinking is slightly different - I may think "Wow he just said an offensive statement" -but I do not allow myself to become that. I just continue being me.

It is interesting that in a culture as diverse as ours is, how many people still do not accept an opinion for what it is and allow themselves to be affected by such uncertainty.

opinion: a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.


Bikshu Sangharakshita, author of Essence of Zen, offers advice on how to transcend potentially limiting projections:
“Try to discover what it is you most dislike in others, what you most often criticize and condemn them for. A little elementary self-analysis may reveal that those qualities are hidden in the depths of your own mind and that in criticizing others in this way you are, in fact, unconsciously criticizing yourself.”

interesting.................