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Ciona

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I own journals I've kept since the 1980's.

I prefer hot apple cider to coffee.

I like green tea with honey, though I'm learning to drink it sans sucre.

I believe, and I pray for help for my unbelief.

I shimmy and bellyroll and study the most beautiful and ancient dance forms: raqs sharki!

My day is quite incomplete unless I've checked NYTimes.com a few times.

"Hope" has long been my favorite word (I'm a writer, so I always have a favorite word), and I cling to it now that my eyes are open to HIV/AIDS, genocide, war, poverty, etc., etc.

I write letters/e-mails and make phone calls to elected officials nearly every week.

I decorate my room with photographs of La Tour Eiffel and Bal du Moulin Rouge, my friends and family because j'aime beaucoup de Paris, mes amis et ma famille!

I live . . . and look forward to:

publishing poetry, conversations with God, being on time for something . . . anything, being love and being loved, returning to South Africa, a cure for HIV/AIDS and Lupus, a change of heart in the Darfur region of Sudan and other places on the globe where ignorance dictates action, teaching and helping others appreciate poetry, AND January 2009 when we swear in a new president to replace THE WORST ONE EVER!


My Interests

Writing, poetry: Nikki Giovanni, Lawrence Ferlenghetti, Galway Kinnell, Gwendolyn Brooks, I could go on . . . bellydancing

playing, traveling, hooping,

South Africa, HIV/AIDS awareness/prevention/cure, social justice, United Methodist Church, youth/young adults, journaling, sometimes jogging, smiling, tulips and calalillies, caramel apple cider, fido coffeehouse, chocolate zuchinni cake at fido coffeehouse, SuDoc Designs (www.sudocdesigns.com), reading, letter-writing, Bonhoeffer

You Are An INFP
The IdealistYou are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop.You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. What's Your Personality Type?
Amar Gamal . . . Isn't she lovely?
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Rachel Brice . . . Tribal Queen!
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I'd like to meet:

YOU if you send a message and strike my fancy . . .

Nelson Mandela and have a cup of tea with him one day. He is one of the beautiful examples of passionate people still living, so I'd like to be in his presence for a bit.

“Your art is and must always be greater than you. It is God’s special gift to you and you have a sacred task to nourish it.� – Lynne Fernandez

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Music:

k.s. rhoads, Coldplay, John Legend, Feist, Madeleine Peyroux, Hossam Ramzy, Mahmoud Fadl, Damien Rice, Mary J. Blige, John Mayer, Eva Cassidy, Ben Harper, some Eminem, Common, Catherine Feeny, Sinatra, Shereen, Derek Webb, Raquy & the Cavemen, Nichole Nordeman, Ray LaMontagne . . . could keep going. I like good percussion. Recommend someone to me sometime . . .

Movies:

The Station Agent In America Hotel Rwanda Life is Beautiful To Sir With Love Amelie Mad Hot Ballroom Coach Carter The Mighty Ducks trilogy 10 Things I Hate about You

Television:

Grey's Anatomy Dawson's Creek
Of course . . . nothing even remotely compares to the television wonder teen angst hit that is Dawson's Creek! Wednesday nights were magical!

Books:

Extremely Loud, and Incredibly Close Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni Mama Day The Namesake White Oleander The Irresistible Revolution

Heroes:

People who not only believe but also actually follow Jesus

My Blog

My cousin has a book published!

When Happily Ever After has lost its attraction how do you attain the Happily Ever Now? (Chicago, IL- October 16, 2007) Happily Ever Now (ISBN: 1601629451) an urban Christian novel written by author N...
Posted by Ciona on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:00:00 PST

Dark Hotel

K.S. Rhoads--a brilliant musician, poet, singer--is creator of a song I cannot stop playing. Your best introduction to it will be by listening to it on his MySpace page and then scrolling down a bit t...
Posted by Ciona on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:09:00 PST

The Poets Cry Out

I love reading poetry that speaks against injustice and speaks truth to a deaf world. In previous wars, art and literature played a huge role in speaking to the U.S. conscience. I've felt more silence...
Posted by Ciona on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 06:49:00 PST

Greensboro Four Pilgrimage

Pilgrim: a traveler, especially on foot, journeying to a sacred place; a resident alienPilgrimage: the journeyI am a pilgrim person. I love the journey of life and the opportunity to seek God and God'...
Posted by Ciona on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:53:00 PST

It's a big, big world . . .

And I'm only 6% of the way into it! ...
Posted by Ciona on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:41:00 PST

Bono's acceptance speech: watch and be inspired

...
Posted by Ciona on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 02:15:00 PST

Gwendolyn Brooks

Well, I'm seven days late, but I'm just getting around to it . . . I thought that I'd highlight some of my favorite black American poets/playwrights/novelists/dancers in this month's blog. Or maybe I'...
Posted by Ciona on Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:50:00 PST

Join(RED) . . . Maybe

I have Join(RED) as the skin on my page because I want people to be aware of Bono's brainchild (in partnership with DATA Chairman Bobby Shriver)--a project that takes what we, in the US (and the UK), ...
Posted by Ciona on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:26:00 PST

Dear, U.S.A:

The people of Iraq thank you for their freedom....
Posted by Ciona on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 02:44:00 PST

Body Wars: Bellydance Defeats Negative Self-Image

I encourage both adults and children to bellydance. I hear far too many women my mother's age criticizing their bodies. My stomach is too big! or I hate my arms! or I can't eat that or I'll get even f...
Posted by Ciona on Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:46:00 PST