reminder and good head check

oh how i LOVE and adore this poem:

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,

what do you think about this poem? as i am sure most of you have heard it before...isn't it amazing?

PHOTOSHOOTS WITH MY TWO FAVORITE PERSIAN CATS

i was just in minneapolis for the weekend. and i got to see my dear buddies, Peej & Franz (aka "badd-boyz"). here are some peeks at our time together. all shots were taken with my trusty pink holgaroid cam. (sah-weet!!). black and white is fun to shoot!!

(it is said that these two were twins separated at birth...)

yours truly on the news

http://www.newscenter1.tv/stories/2744.aspx

here is an update on the hard work me and my organization have been doing!!

super stoked that Rapid City has continued to cover our endeavors!

pretty neat, eh??

pee.ess: notice the new LISH design i'm sportin!! :)

in hopes of satiation.

its killing me so very much to not be by the water. the sea. the beach. the ocean. the coast. i HONESTLY think about it at least once an hour. i cant breathe the same.

i couldn't be more desperate: i give you a blog post of some of my ocean shots in hopes of satiating my soul:

i think about the beach/ocean/coast/coastal air EVERY DAY here in south dakota. i am not as calm and awesome when i am not by the sea....

i miss my ocean so so very much.

i miss myself by the ocean; i feel full there, absolutely and completely complete. who would have thought that not being by the water would get to me to the extent that it is starting to; it has never been this intense. this is my cry for help.

if you live by the water, can you bottle some and send it to baktash and i?!?!??!

layli,

...just breathe...

do you ever feel this way??

what photo do you like the best?

what best encapsulates the feeling of the ocean for you?

my thesis has officially...

...killed me.

peace out.

i'm holding my breath for this one...

...so if i don't respond, its b/c i passed out from anticipation for this:

also BEACH HOUSE is one of my new fave bands. and this song is in my top 10 songs right now. so so sick:

BEACH HOUSE - GILA from Jon Leone on Vimeo.

HOW SICK IS THAT SONG?!??!

a list: my brother na'im's four favorite words:

1. you
2. know
3. they
4. say...

...love you brrrro.

♥

attitude adjustment hour has descended upon us

Here are some quotes i feel to be especially pertinent to my life right now. work can be so hard at times, heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story, injustice mounted higher than i can see...no end in sight...

"The earth is in motion and growth; the mountains, hills and prairies are green and pleasant; the bounty is overflowing; the mercy universal; the rain is descending from the cloud of mercy; the brilliant Sun is shining; the full moon is ornamenting the horizon of ether; the great ocean-tide is flooding every little stream; the gifts are successive; the favors consecutive; and the refreshing breeze is blowing, wafting the fragrant perfume of the blossoms. Boundless treasure is in the hand of the King of Kings! Lift the hem of thy garment in order to receive it. If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?”

`Abdu’l-Bahá

and i have also been really focusing on NOT apologizing for myself if i am being TRUE to myself. we all need to be true to ourselves even if it means someone else feels uncomfortable; we cannot control how others react to you, all we can control is how we treat ourselves and view ourselves. if we apologize for our truths, or are hesitant to be our true self, then we are doing the worst disservice of all- not being true to our self. if we are not true to our self, then we get off track, burdened by the transitory tests and trials of this life...basically...must stay on your true path or you'll get jacked.

i love this quote:

"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth."

“

—	Benjamin Disraeli

"A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special."

“

—	Nelson Mandela what do you do to stay true to yourself? how did you like these quotes?

exciting news for samimi-extremie!! but you have to VOTE!!!

so my buddy ray told me about this summerphotoblog competition and i entered for fun. well, this photo made it to the top 5 finalists, out of couple hundred. at this point, it is up to YOU, dear readers to make the difference and vote.

i will win an old sweet camera and a lot of press which would be so exciting for me and my photography!!!

i beg you to PLEASE vote and to please pass this on to others!! @ this point, i am tied with one other photograph and i think it should be me that wins. SO. here is the link:

http://www.holgablog.com/2009/09/15/summer-competition-vote-for-your-favourite/

and pick "the badlands are radlands" (the photo above) and hope that i win!

it honestly only takes 2 minutes to do, and i would really appreciate it! especially because the voting is open all week!! sheesh, the stress of it all!!

thank you to those of you that have already voted, passed it on and those of you, dear readers that are going to vote now.

love love love to you all.

xxx.

some exciting news from yours truly: sam-ex

♥

(all photos with the exception of the shoe, are taken by lori andrews, aka 10 cent designer. please go to her flickr to see delicious oodles more...)

exciting news !!

i dont follow many people on the internet. i really dont. many are too self loathing, or self inflated, or self conscious, or self...BORINGGGGGGG. SO. there are a couple i adoreee. one of them is the "10 cent designer". i absolutely love her for her quirky, upbeat, unpretentious, creative, happy, clean personality and presentation. her personality seems to really jump out of the screen when you are looking at her photographs and it always cheers me up. i appreciate photographers with a very unique, particular style, and she has that herself. i celebrate her photography, as i feel i have done the same in regards to: really stylized shoots with a continuous theme or feeling or style.

10 cent is a blogger/designer/recipe sharer/photographer extraordinaire and she always cracks me up. her photos are funny and shot in the prairies with big contained fluffy clouds and cornflower blue skies - much like yours truly.

more and more of us are realizing that we have loads of food intolerances and that our diets must be changed to more healthy, happier foods. at times it can be exhausting having to come up with healthy delicious recipes...but guess what: she also has an amazing food/recipe blog that i follow religiously - gluten, sugar and caffeine free diet. go check it out (the photos aren't bad either...) :

i've been meaning to blog about 10 cent for a while now, and then great news! i find out that she has created a flickr gallery titled, "summer of dreams" and there are only a handful of photos selected for this gallery and mine was selected!! how kewl! how neat! how radiculous!

you can see it here. i dont believe i have featured that shot on my bliggity blog yet, so you can go peek at its awesomeness too!

--i just wanted to thank 10 cent for all the work she does in sharing her recipes and what a service her food blog is! thank you, 10 cent!

on another exciting note: i bought these babies today, and boy am i excited. i've wanted a pair of zuriicks for a while now. oooh wee.

love you all. now back to my thesis....uggggghhhh...

healing beyond hate.

www.healingbeyondhate.blogspot.com

hey dudes. i am writing to let you all know that myself and a couple friends from my rapid city community have started a blog with the purpose of creating a space for Native Americans here in SD and people of color everywhere to be able to voice / share stories of injustice and discrimination. a lot of times people don't have someone to listen to them, or the courage to speak up about something that is really painful for them to discuss. we wanted to provide this blog as a place that can speak to justice and healing and create compassion and understanding from the reader's perspective.

there is so much bullshit that goes on and atrocious things people have to endure...we are wanting this blog to be a common place for people to be able to share views and connect from a place of pain and be able to transcend that to a place of HEALING.

any thoughts? suggestions?

please come over to our blog and become a follower! please help get the word out there, any effort really helps us...

big ups to you for supporting and big love to you from me, humble wittle extremie. ;)

one reason life is awesome

i have always had a knack for fighting for a high, awesome, radical quality of life. the quality of my life is something that i always strive to improve and up the ante...i have always fought for professors and advisors and friends who make my life the best ever. experience is what life is all about and finding those that encourage and nurture the best in you are what i search for. and i am happy to say i found that in my beloved graduate school advisor.

when emailing me back about some questions i had regarding my masters thesis, he concludes the email with:

"Sometimes say it is empirical or qualitative or existentialist or positivist or involves participant observation or something big that students usually BS about... You should also. "

i laughed for five minutes after i read this and feel so blessed and full of love for my life and those that surround it; he understands me and my mission to constantly challenge the status quo and upset the equilibrium by jumping out of the traditional box and hopscotching around to different, more creative options. god bless my prof.

Great Informative Video re. Plight of Baha'is in Iran

sorry, my blog format makes it such that you cannot see the whole video. you can go HERE to see it in full screen.

i found it pretty moving. what are your thoughts?