My Shoes

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"Those are your shoes. These are my shoes..." -Slug
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"'Come to the edge,' he said.
They said, 'We are afraid.'
'Come to the edge,' he said.
They came.
He pushed them...
And they flew."
-Guillaume Apollinaire

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Birthday Weekend Recap
2005-09-06 3:43 p.m.

9.7 11:55

"Oh pirates, yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit

But my aim was made strong
By the hands of the Almighty
We fought in this generation
Triumphantly

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption song
Redemption song..."
(Macy Gray's cover of my favorite Bob Marley song on Larry King Live for the Katrina victims.)

A volunteer hands out sandwiches and other food to Hurricane Katrina evacuees at the Astrodome.

I love this city. As much as I like to playfully bash Houston, it's one of the greatest cities on earth. There has never been a shortage of people willing to volunteer their time to help 200,000 of our displaced Louisiana neighbors. There has never been a shortage of donations. Scores of volunteers and boxes of goods are being turned away each day. On Labor Day, Paolo, Claudia, Raven, Fernando and I attempted to donate much needed blood at a Gulf Coast Regional donation center. The wait was an hour an a half.

It hasn't been easy: our crime rate is on the rise, jobs are being filled by refugees and even more are being created, our school districts and colleges are being flooded with Louisiana children.

However, it would seem that in this day in age, you'd be hard pressed to find help in time of need. This city is living proof that goodness still exists.
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I'm scuuuured. But in a good way.

Tomorrow's the big day. 9:30 am to be exact. I am meeting with the new principle (and former librarian) of my old high school, along with the learning service facilitator. I think I have an internship and perhaps even the rumblings of a permanent position.

My Teacher Certification classes made me do it. The class material in & of itself isn't hard but being a relative youngen is. I'm one of 4 new graduates out of a class of 20. I'm also one of 3 who isn't already teaching. That's intimidating stuff.

I went home after the first day of class kinda bewildered. This is really forreal. I felt so young and unexperienced, so incapable of doing what I'd set out to do. I drove home with my mind racing and immediately went up to my room to pray for clarity and direction. On a random passage flipping session, I got some answers: Sirach 51:2-30 and Jeremiah 1:4-8 (CALL OF JEREMIAH - The word of the Lord came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. "Ah, Lord God!" I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young." But the Lord said answered me, Say not, "I am too young." To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.")

The next day, I phoned up my old high school for possible opportunities and landed myself a meeting. Huseman said it'd be a blessing to work side by side with a successful product of Quest. More than likely, I'll be working under her in Service Learning, possibly as a liason between Quest and the new Empowerment High School. It's magnet school founded upon the principles of Quest but meant for inner city kids. They need help implementing the Service Learning component of the curriculum. Huseman said that, if not at Quest, Empowerment is a likely spot to find permanent employment. ...right up my ally.

So it looks like I am indeed headed toward a career in education policy...by way of a rather unexected route. Perhaps grad school in politics didn't fall through for a reason... I have so much to be thankful for, but I'm still scared out of my wits. But in a good way.

Say one for me tomorrow.

Birthday weekend pix to follow.

9.6 3:43 pm

...and a Happy Birthday to me =)

Birthday weekend was a blast, thanks to all my peoples and most especially Paolo. To jumpstart our sort of new beginning, he did everything he could to make this weekend perfect. Even when the time spent with him would have sufficed, it was still perfect.

I suppose he really wanted to make an effort to show me that he's really trying...

We have a slow but steady process ahead. And though it still hurts sometimes, I have a lot of confidence in us and in him. If we keep our faith and each other at the fore, mending will sort itself out in the background. The most important things in this life never come easy. This means so much to me. He means so much to me.

Updates

Val's got a teaching gig at her old high school =)

I'm going to put my New Balance's on. Time to go on a short run before class..

More later

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"My aura's positive, I don't promote no junk. I'm far from a bully & I ain't a punk."
-Tribe

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