Vincent Van Gogh blows me away!

He is my favorite artist of all times.
I love Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, Picasso, and many others... but with Van Gogh there is a connection. Yeah... call me crazy. I love his paintings, but in his letters to Theo (his brother) I've discovered things that we have in common. Like this part:

From Vincent to Theo:
"A phrase in your letter struck me: 'I wish I were far away from everything, I am the cause of all, and bring only sorrow to everybody; I alone have brought all this misery on myself and others.' These words struck me because that same feeling, exactly the same, neither more nor less, is also in my conscience..."

There is also this:

"... Wait, perhaps some day you will see that I too am an artist..."

He just blows me away!
And my favorite painting are The Starry Night, The Café Terrace at Night, Starry Night over the Rhone, and Room at Arles.

Focus

It's not hard to do... really.
But lately I've heard the word "Focus!" so many times... as a comand!
The night of the SH meeting, I saw a friend of mine outside the MCenter and he told me to go to class (to my 7pm TR class) and I said "of course I'm going, you don't need to tell me what to do" and my friend said "I just want to keep you focused" and then someone says "Oh!!! That's a full time job!"
I might need people to keep me in track every now and then when my energy level is low, or when I'm really angry, or when I have a sugar-rush, or an anxiety attach (this only happens when I have to speak in public). BUT other than that I'm fine! :) Really!!!

Anyway... last week was really good.
I made a shirt that says "Made in El Salvador" for the airbrush t-shirts last Friday.

That's all for now... I need to focus on the movie review I have to turn in tomorrow :)
Ciao!

Make A Difference Day - Traveler

The Traveler - News
Issue: 10/18/04

Volunteering draws many
By Christian Moseby, Staff Writer

Several UA students volunteered Saturday with other people in the community for Make A Difference Day, a national day of service.

According to USAWeekend.com, Make A Difference Day is a national day of service sponsored by USA Weekend publication, where citizens volunteer to work in their community. Last year more than 3 million people volunteered in communities around the world.

For the past 14 years, organizations including World SHARE, J.C. Penney, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America have contributed to this service each year.

The UA has been a part of Make A Difference Day since 1992, said BG, the Make A Difference Day chairwoman for the UA.

This year the UA formed 40 different service projects under Make A Difference Day, she said.

For the past two months, the UA advertised the event and encouraged students to participate. Students were able to sign up online to volunteer for a service project of their choice. Last Thursday, volunteers participated in a volunteer orientation session, during which volunteers met with their project leaders.

The service projects ranged from Adopt-A-Park, where the volunteers had to help with cleaning, maintenance and pruning of shrubs by the castle at Wilson Park, to painting walls at the Seven Hills Homeless Shelter.

Saturday morning, before the volunteers began their projects they participated in a rally in the Connections Lounge in the Arkansas Union. Healey Tonsing, program coordinator for Faith in Action, a United Way partner agency, spoke to the volunteers about why volunteering is important.

"The community couldn't function without them," she said. "From cleaning to painting, it's important to have the community involved because we're all in it together."

She also thanked the volunteers on behalf of all non-profit organizations.

Sue Borrego, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students, also spoke to the volunteers.

"This is a day in which you're somebody's hero," she said.

Project leaders Catandra Johnson and LaTrice Duncan were in charge of the Peace at Home Family Shelter Fiesta service group. The Fiesta was held at the Thrift Shop for Families or Victims of Domestic Violence.

The volunteers helped set up and maintain the Fiesta, and worked inside the store. Johnson and Duncan said they were really satisfied with the work they did, and they were even happier that they were able to volunteer.

"I really enjoyed it," Johnson said. "Everyone, including the volunteers and the customers had a good time."

Duncan said, "It was a good experience to be able to give five hours back to the community."

For "Big Razorback Day," another Make A Difference Day project, Big Brothers & Big Sisters gathered at Bud Walton Arena with the Razorback basketball team and other volunteers to entertain children. The children watched the basketball team practice, got players' autographs and took pictures with the athletes.

BG said overall she thought the day went well, and she enjoyed every moment of organizing Make a Difference Day.

"Being able to volunteer was an awesome experience, because it helps the community a lot," she said. "Volunteering can also prepare a person for the real world. Because you get to see real problems that people are having, and you get to help them."

Make A Difference Day - NWA Times

UA students spend day making a difference
BY KATE WARD Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2004

Thirty-eight nonprofit agencies were benefited Saturday through the University of Arkansas’ 12 th annual Make A Difference Day.

The University of Arkansas, through the Office for Student Involvement and Leadership, once again participated in the national service effort with more than 400 volunteers who dedicated a day to help their community by assisting nonprofit organizations in the community. MADDay is a national event sponsored by "USA Weekend" Magazine in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation.

Some of the service projects that were held on MADDay helped Seven Hills Homeless Shelter, the Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club, the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center, Young Bridge and the Peace at Home Family Shelter Thrift Store Fiesta, where Johnetta Cross Brazell, the UA Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, volunteered.

MADDay is intended to give participants an opportunity to learn about the various nonprofit agencies in Northwest Arkansas through service projects, but more importantly to provide a venue for civic duty. A volunteer rally was held Saturday morning, with guest speakers Healey Tonsing, executive director of the Faith in Action program at Washington Regional Medical Center, and Susan Borrego, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs/Dean of Students at the university. "During the rally, we pumped up volunteers and fed them breakfast," Borrego said. "Some volunteers went straight to their project sites and were unable to attend the rally, but others were assigned to different projects at the rally."

Individual service projects are coordinated by students who serve as project leaders. The chairs leading the event were B Gutierrez and Fortune Utubor. "This is my second year to participate in Make a Difference Day, but my first year to be a project leader," said UA student Misty Jackson. "Since my major is dietetics, I will be working with people all my life and this is a great opportunity to get involved in the community and show that I care."

One volunteer group went to Youth Bridge, a residential treatment facility for children. "The person in charge of Make a Difference Day assigns volunteer groups to different nonprofit organizations," said Emily Crow, project leader and UA student. "We were assigned to Youth Bridge, and today the kids went to the ropes course while we painted the inside of one of the buildings."

Another event gave children a chance to mingle with the UA’s top athletes. "Big (Razorback) For a Day," is one of the collaborative efforts between the Student Involvement and Leadership Office, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the UA Men’s Athletics department. The event took place at Bud Walton Arena on the UA campus.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters program is designed to match children who are in need of consistent friendship and guidance with adult role models.

The goal of this year’s project was to promote the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas and its mission of providing oneon-one mentoring to "atrisk" youths and to recruit adults to become involved in the program. About 30 to 40 "Waiting Littles" attended the event. Waiting Littles are children registered for the program who are not yet matched due to a shortage of adults willing and able to serve as a "Big" (mentor). "It gives us a chance to get to know the ‘waiting littles,’ and it also gives them something fun to do on a Saturday," said Will Atchley, Big Brothers Big Sisters officer.

After the children registered and ate lunch, they received a tour of the arena and locker rooms and watched the men’s basketball team practice. After the practice concluded, the children were able to meet and visit with the players and coaches. In the, end the children went home with several autographs and a very special memory. "I like it because I get to get spoiled for an entire day," said Jake Nelson, a waiting little. "My favorite part is getting the autographs because I get to hang them on my wall."

When MADDay projects concluded, volunteers participated in a post-project discussion to process what was learned.

Copyright © 2001-2004 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com

I can handle it!

I found this TODAY... nice timing!
http://www.therealmartha.com/stress/

I felt I was on my way home

Ahora, cuando venia manejando camino a la universidad, paso algo inusual.
Estaba lloviendo y los árboles se veian frescos... llenos de vida.
Los colores en el paisaje están cambiando, están apareciendo los rojos y anaranjados de esta estación. Y por un momento, me senti bien... fue raro... un sentimiento que solo podria describir como "on my way home".
A mi mente vinieron imagenes de mi pequeña ciudad... de mi pequeño pais.
Me senti como viviendo una de esas peliculas que vi en mi infancia.

Y bueno, solo pense en escribirlo porque me parecio interesante. No sé porque pasó, pero hace mucho que no sentia eso, ya ni sé como explicarlo.

Ciao!

I'm short, but I'm happy.

Ha! That's my version of the first line in Alanis' song "Hand in my pocket".
I also relate really well to the "I care but I'm restless" line in this very moment of my life.

Things have been REALLY busy/crazy these past three weeks. I'm ready for the big day to come. I've made the most out of it: I've learned, I've grown, I've gotten frustrated, I've overcome the frustration, I've hit the pavement and gotten back up quickly... and it's not over just yet. I have LEARNED so much, I have WORKED so much.

I will survive, so you (assuming that there is someone, somewhere that actually reads my posts) will hear from me again, after my MADDness, of course.

Greater things

Today, it's been great.
I was wearing the cute shirt that my daddy bought for me in Mexico. I looked cute!!! (I'm serious!)
And well, it's been rainning all day, so I was going to my second class and right in front of the FNAR building... it happened. I fell down.
I was all wet... but that was not the problem... the deal is that it was REALLY embarasing. I got up quickly and I said I was OK.
I didn't go to my next class right away, I called CM to see if I could get a FNL t-shirt, but her office was closed. so I called AT and he gave me an EL t-shirt. It's a XL and I feel like I'm on my PJs... but hey. I'm not wet anymore!
So it's been a really interesting day.
Great things have been happening in my life, and I know greater things will come.
Of course, I will never scape the falls and slips, specially with winter around the corner; I know that if it's snowing, I'll fall for sure!
Life is fun.
But in my case, life is funny. :)
That's it for now. Oh... I have the Gridiron show tonight and tomorrow night. Please, don't tell me to "break a leg" 'cause it might just happen for real.
Ciao!