stephanie profile picture

stephanie

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me


i loooooove to dance. give me any excuse!
~ ~ ~ ::: ~ ~ ~ ::: ~ ~ ~

having fun with the music player - that's me, bailando with ismael at brenda's bday :)
[i have posted a few funny videos. they are all VERY short. they feature some of my favorite people!]
i never get to unpack my suitcase. i just go from illinois to california. jet blue. o'hare. long beach. and back. i am lucky to not have to choose between career & family = i travel all the time. in june '07 my kids and i left illinois for california. now i fly every month to illinois!! it never ends...how afortunada i am.
i love to read archives of grateful dead lyrics. if there were a heaven i think jerry would be singing all day, piped in over the best celestial speaker system...but at least for now we have stereos, and since we don't know better, i think it sounds mighty nice. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. MyGen Profile Generator

sad to say, but my gente...sí, lo somos.
juan took this in golden gate park, sf
last year in illinois. tacos de papa made us remember california. now we have holé molé on obispo.
I DIG FALL...i mean, i really LOVE it. last year i lived in a REAL fall for the first time in sixteen years, and my kids had never known a crisp sunny leaf-filled day in their whole lives...we were so lucky!! thank you sky. thank you trees. thank you breezes. thank you uncle keith for building my parents' screened in porch. thank you fates for twisting yet again and bringing me back to this beautiful place, far from my loves and work and freeways and ocean and everything i know how to do well, near to my family family family family family family, near to the great lakes, near to the things i ran 2000 miles west to escape...now i am living in california once again.

•••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••

but, about me? well, i am a mix of:
•• loyal - i love my friends and family and i will do anything for them.
•• good cook - especially if you like beans or tacos de papa or jalapeños or grape leaves or tofu...
•• not "easy-going" which means i have something to say/think/do about what is going on...i don't just sit back and let the world and all of its unfairness get away with it.
•• vegan - this means i do not eat animals, their babies, their babies' milk, or other products that take the life from animals
•• dreamer-crusader... ENDING the BOMBING
•• caregiver for mom - this is the hardest and best job in the world. these days i have moved back to chicago to be her full-time caregiver (on a one-year leave from my school) so i get to show her every day how much her life means to me
•• passionate - about everything, and hopefully someday again about someone with whom i can connect on all those levels that could never fit in a paragraph "about me."
•• oh, and as everyone who knows me will attest: i am stupid as hell about boys, so the last part is highly UNlikely. mom kindly reminds me of that sometimes. thanks mom.

this is my baby grrrl

also:when people eat the food i prepare for them, i feel happy.

when i get to be in the woods and look at stars, i feel incredibly lucky.
sleeping in a rainy tent is the best sound there is, other than my baby saying s/he loves mama. my poor boy looks just like me!
::: summer fun...my last days in california :::

My Interests

end of summer 2007. beaches and my babies. but i guess it's a stretch to call them babies anymore. wyatt's almost 15, and nayla is way into 10 already...still my babies. mi familia pequeña y querida, como adoro a estas 3 personas, una suerte TAN GRANDE:

last may, before we left illinois, we got to meet the 17-year CICADAS!! they come out of the ground every 17 years, eat, lay eggs, and die :( but for a few weeks, the sound is all around us and their fascinating lives are the center of conversation and wonder!

photography (too much). nacimiento. espresso (too much). tofu. lips. justicia. change. muerte. people i meet on airplanes. musicians. contemplating the insane media coverage of world events. candles over lights every time.

i used to complain a lot about living in southern california (filthy air, people who don't care about education, people who care about hollywood, cement-covered earth, etc...), but riding around the corner on my bike to get a coffee...in february...this is lovely. but now i live in illinois, and soon i will be COLD. and my bike is in california. codepink. i did a vigil on wednesdays at the corner of long beach and broadway for 3.4 years (since we invaded iraq and begin the killing spree that has not ended)...now i am looking for a similar action in chicago. and SNOW. even if it comes in october!

i am interested in the not eating of animals

I'd like to meet:

emma goldman (1869-1940) ~ " There is no greater fallacy than the belief that aims and purposes are one thing, while methods and tactics are another. ~ Emma Goldman, social activist
Every daring attempt to make a great change in existing conditions, every lofty vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian"..."I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."

i'd also like to meet my baby girl in 10 years, all grown up :) ... will be still be so close?

jimmy carter ~ "Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the Internet, you are talking about cell phones, you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect two-thirds of the people of the world." - 39th US President, Nobel laureate (1924- )
FDR while we're on this whole wish list thing...
and my sweet sweet love brent mydland (grateful dead keyboards)...never met you, but danced countless hours to your magical voice...you are missed. you are missed.

brent mydland..."you don't know how easy it is to love you!" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ :: quisiera conocer a todo el mundo, y luego quiero poder hablar todos sus idiomas...a lo mínimo unos cuantos más...from history i would treasure a chance to have a coffee with ben franklin or sojourner truth or emma goldman. and i would love to have all of my old teachers over for dinner one night to say thanks. as for new folks - i think i most enjoy meeting people who make witty conversation, especially those who follow politics (is it fair to dream that there is someone who is kind and loves his family and is also interested in changing the world...and goes camping? i didn't think so) and have something thoughtful to share.

:: who would i prefer NOT to meet? folks who think that every idea about positive change is too hard to accomplish, and those friends of theirs who tell me i am too naive. i know. let me dream, please. i actually get quite a bit done that way. AND...while i am dreaming: i would like to meet up with all of my friends, every night.

Music:

because we need it. live. folk. nayla a capella. wyatt. juan. wimmin. lotta fitter lately. early hip hop. my dad whistling. beth orton. steve earle. julie jurgens. my baby girl playing piano. of course: the dead...i miss them so so much, but being back in chicago makes a little easier with wxrt! i could listen to juan ruiz all day... ••fitter•fitter•fitter•fitter•• best show i saw last year krs-one at normandie casino beautiful, positive energy from "the teacha" ¡¡y tanta diversión con roberto!!

Movies:

they make me cry, sometimes later, usually because i feel our capacity to destroy and it frightens me so...hold my head in my hands through almost all films. need a lot of hand holding to get through one. i have a new friend who watches a lot of films - maybe this will help.

Television:

no, gracias. i'd rather be dancing!!
or playing in the SNOW!


or taking pictures! i think there are a few too many coffee pics :)

Books:

jeez, there are an awful lot of good ones: mom and sis are librarians, and i think i should use this miniature soap box to say that we should be afraid that libraries are shrinking and closing...i run a little school and we gladly accept your book donations...especialmente libros en espanyol

Heroes:

emma goldman. sojourner truth. papa lee. upton sinclair. redwoods. plus, my family...

mi mamá, mi papá, y mis hermanas (in the living room...1974...mom made the outfits, of course!)

ed-the-artist took this one by lake michigan, september 2006

my mom with my 1st born, at the ohio lake house

my papa lee several years before we lost him...RIP (wow, my kids have grown and i have shrunk)

My Blog

fittér below, around, & outside

whenever i go to a FITTÉR gig, i KNOW i will:= see someone i have been missing= meet someone i dig= dance= laugh= wish it were longer= go home exhausted!this night was no exception.the bus and the pen...
Posted by stephanie on Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:34:00 PST

yum. [how do you say that in hindi?]

[once again, i waited too long to post this. but here it is. moe, sandra, maria, diya, chris, cecilia, ted, wyatt, nayla, and the lovely woman whose name just escaped me...sorry for the wait!]YUM.we f...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:35:00 PST

playas.

["playas" ~ that is not english for some ass-hole who thinks he is hot shit...i mean "playas" ~ español for beaches, ok? and there are a LOT of pics in this one...just scroll down. you'll like them, i...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:26:00 PST

brenda.

i noticed something.when i was collecting photos to document the end of my summer,i found brenda rivera in almost all of them.below, find the collection.lucky me, hm?la considero hermana - you will se...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:54:00 PST

wicked.

my sisters and my mom took me to see WICKED in downtown chicago in the theatre district...then to dinner at the chicago diner - a VEGAN restaurant!!love, love, love.out with my favorite wimmin in the ...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:40:00 PST

my 40th bday PARTY!

if you made it to my party and don't find yourself in here, i am sorry...i misplaced my camera 100 times during the night...thank you ~ gracias ~ thank you ~ gracias por haber estado conmigo en este e...
Posted by stephanie on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:22:00 PST

virginia wolf[e] & friends

i am blessed to have dear friends. all are good: some make me laugh, others keep me honest, some save me from myself,some listen to my crazy stories,others advise...zaid is all of those and more.[even...
Posted by stephanie on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:03:00 PST

going going...

today was our going away party at the "beach" [lake michigan is really really big, for those people who think big bear lake when i say "lake"!!]friends and family came to say goodbye ! we are going to...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:22:00 PST

california dreamin'

HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THESE PEOPLE?enough to move back to LA!!![you all may love your friends, and i am glad you do...but these friends are TOPS.]ted took us out to a new spot in west LA...eee! i love fo...
Posted by stephanie on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 09:23:00 PST

chris jordan is my new hero.

hi. hope you like this.this is a tiny peek at one of the most amazing things i have seen lately - the artist chris jordan, of seattle, has made a series of giant prints [partially reproduced here - do...
Posted by stephanie on Sun, 27 May 2007 11:54:00 PST