the*chase

"We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more..."

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:38:34 -0500

“We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will
only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been
asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against
offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been
anything false about hope…”

- Jon Favreau via President Barack Obama

...on chasing worldwide equality for women and girls.

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:57:15 -0500

Just found out about this new site founded by Tammy Tibbetts, web editor at Hearst Digital Media and all-around world-rocker;-) Learn how she’s spearheading an effort to mentor young girls in developing nations at www.shesthefirst.org.

For more on Tammy Tibbetts, visit her twitter page.

Today is National Candy Corn Day!! My favorite fall treat gets...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:59:25 -0400

Today is National Candy Corn Day!! My favorite fall treat gets its very own day;-)

I Choose

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:36:19 -0400

I just had a very real moment. Reading my guide to CIEE—all 30 pages of it—I couldn’t help but get excited about living abroad for a year. Until I came across a small section with a header in bold. “A note to minority students…” Racism and discrimination are a very real factor anywhere I go in life. I’ve expertly quelled the consuming rage that most people find difficult to overcome for 23 years. So why am I now so afraid of facing the same possibilities that I wade through here abroad?

I thought about this for about 20 minutes, coming up with all kind of scenarios of how it could play out. Ordinarily in moments like these, I would pick up the phone to call my mom or my best friend, looking for solace and reaffirmation that I am not, in fact, crazy for having the desire to travel the world. But those outlets have been taken away from me, and I know that it’s no accident. I needed this moment, I needed to be alone, I needed to face myself in this very real way, so that I can begin to conquer this fear.

But then I made a decision. I will not let this obstacle, nor the next, ruin this experience for me. I’ve been abroad and lived in one of the most remote places in the world. If I could open hearts and change minds there, I can do it anywhere. I choose to be courageous in everything I do. The color of my skin will never change, nor would I ever want it to. But there is a very real revolution taking place inside me right now, and I’m ready to share it.

Video

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:23:00 -0400

I

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:50:19 -0400

I :

How did Google Books know?

Trap Thieves Abroad

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:38:00 -0400

Trap Thieves Abroad:

I just found this site via jaunted.com. It’s a discreet way for female wanderlusts to carry cash and important items while traveling. I bet they’ll see a boom in business since dvf just got purse-swiped in Madrid. You know what they say: “que será, será.” pero you dont have to leave it all to fate. Give pickpockets a run for their money, literally with the Racktrap.

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:13:00 -0400

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

Mark Twain

I feel like now would be an apt time to share some of what I have learned over the past year or so considering I just talked to my mother, and she almost convinced me that I haven’t learned anything at all.

I learned not to believe anything that is said in reference to someone’s character. Especially when that someone is me. The people who truly care about you will always show it rather than speak it.

I learned that my family will always find a way to make me feel two inches tall, even when I’m trying my hardest. I learned to stop making myself feel two inches tall, especially when I’m trying my hardest.

I learned that just because a person was twenty-three years old once upon a time does not make said person an expert in being twenty-three. I learned to be patient and to give myself time to achieve my goals.

I learned that time is something that I can never get back, thus I learned to appreciate even the most difficult days when I’d rather stay in bed and pull the covers over my head.

I learned never to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head.

I learned that no matter how hard you work, some people will always call you lazy, selfish or incompetent. And most importantly, I learned that I will never lose the urge to try to prove those people wrong.

P.S. I’m going to Chile! (That never gets old.)

Stimulating New Blog: Read About 'The New American Hysteria' on New York Review

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:05:00 -0400

nybooks:

Garry Wills
A widely circulated image from the Tea Party protests
The hysteria shown at town hall meetings this summer is simply the tip of an outpouring of organized hostility to government that is unparalleled in our history. We have had wildly emotional opposition movements in the past—red scares, nativist riots, anti-Catholic and anti-Semite outbreaks. And there are some parallels with past forms of extremism. People who think Obama is a Muslim are like anti-New Dealers who thought Roosevelt a Jew or John Birchers who thought Eisenhower a Communist…

Now, however, there is a deeply panicky combination of pathologies—racist, xenophobic, fundamentalist—screaming about death camps and euthanasia and baby-killers and 9/11 conspiracies (by the “truthers”). Every aspect of our present government is considered illegitimate. Some look at our leaders and recognize nothing of themselves in them. They see a black man as president and cannot even consider him a citizen, a Christian, a sane man—he must be a Muslim, a Nazi, a Hitler. They see a Latina on the Supreme Court. They see a woman as secretary of state. They see a black attorney general. This is not America.

*Read the whole story after the jump.

this is how i learn new words every day...

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:18:40 -0400

mi amiga, la princesa: Hola chiquita! Como estas?
yo: me duele la mente.
princesa: la mente o la cabeza?
princesa: La mente no duele!
yo: la mente...pienso que he pensado demasiado.
princesa:Lo siento. no tienes calmantes?
yo: tal vez. quizas si supiera yo lo que es un calmante...
princesa: pain relief medicine
yo: oh! yes, i do have some.
princesa: now you know.

"Mao was right. Revolution isn’t a dinner party. It is the chance for something better. It is the..."

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:26:00 -0400

“Mao was right. Revolution isn’t a dinner party. It is the chance for something better. It is the chance to cook up something out of our dreams, to develop new recipes that fit appetites that somehow are different than they were a year ago, to be decent on a scale we might not have imagined possible. And it’s this that makes this an age of unthinkable possibility, a moment when we can ceaselessly surprise ourselves for the better. We’re not being served anymore at the table of history. We’re cooking for ourselves and enjoying, again, the full and dangerous and unnerving pleasure of creation.”

- from an essay in Departures by Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It .

I read this today, and I couldn’t help but feel that the revolution which he explains has swept me away, too.

I just found out yesterday that I will have the chance to spend next year in Chile teaching English. It’s an opportunity that no one in my family has ever dared to dream of. And it’s an opportunity that exemplifies this new culture defined by revolution. There are no boundaries to how inquisitive we can become, how humanitarian we may dare to live and how life-changing our actions can be. Some say the cultural revolution ended in ‘76. I say that it is alive, well and all grown up.

We’re so productive.

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:12:00 -0400

We’re so productive.

Please help me curb my enthusiasm.

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:57:42 -0400

Please help me curb my enthusiasm.

Another historic night at the VMAs. This is song on repeat...

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:31:00 -0400

Another historic night at the VMAs. This is song on repeat blasting from my earbuds has gotten me through some rough workouts on the elliptical. It was so cool to see Janet perform it once more with her big bro. And may I say, she did the damn thing. The Jacksons always make me miss back in the day when music was music.

I’m sorry, young bucks, but Beyonce and Rihanna ain’t got nothing on Ms. Jackson. Man….

stolen from this site. i couldn’t help myself.

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:27:09 -0400

stolen from this site. i couldn’t help myself.

"Who wants mortality? We all want immortality. Michaelangelo said, ‘The creator must go, but..."

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:31:00 -0400

“Who wants mortality? We all want immortality. Michaelangelo said, ‘The creator must go, but the work survives.’ That is why to escape death, I attempt to bind my soul to my work.”

- Michael Joseph Jackson

Happy 51st!

blissed: (via jermainia | sincerelyandy) My bestie, Britt would...

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:06:44 -0400

blissed:

(via jermainia | sincerelyandy)

My bestie, Britt would love this!

awkwardisawesome: I’m a fan. And she is a fan of vintage....

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:32:34 -0400

awkwardisawesome:

I’m a fan. And she is a fan of vintage. Therefore I am an even bigger fan.

Introducing VV Brown. Before she hits pop stations everywhere and becomes the next Keri Hilson.

see? told you. intelligence is sexy. via cardboardlove

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:33:06 -0400

see? told you.

intelligence is sexy.

via cardboardlove

inesol: mutations: unicornology:lavenderlines:pabloneruda:(via...

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:54:57 -0400

inesol:

mutations:

unicornology:lavenderlines:pabloneruda:(via prettysmart)

…a bed of knowledge. peace. and pure bliss.