The Ciel Show

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Thanks!

Several Blogiteers have contacted me regarding helping me raise the funds for the trip to Gueoul, and I am delighted to report that since taking on this project, I have raised already over $200 through photo-book sales. I can't thank you enough for taking an interest! The money that gets me to Gueoul, about half will go to airfare, the rest to the Friends of Gueoul, and thence to the girls of Gueoul. Friday evening is the annual dinner of the Friends of Gueoul... so looking forward to attending,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:33 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Welcome to Gueoul, Senegal

There is a town of around 11,000 people in this west African nation, and it has gone through a change. It is called Gueoul--pronounced 'gway-ool' Someone took note that traditionally, girls in this culture, are not educated, but are often victims of the worst kinds of crime against girls and women: assault, genital cutting, too-early marriage and motherhood, sexual trafficking, wasted lives... The town itself, like many communities paid for its neglect and abuse of its girls and women in higher... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:50 PM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, April 16, 2010

Here we are at Starfest...

Charlie dressed up in his golem costume... stomped around the fest with a couple of buddies holding up signs: Hug the Golem $1--all the proceeds for Relay For Life, in other words, cancer research. He has just returned to the room and we have counted up the dollars: His organization, Bedlam Knights will be sending $70 to RFL from this night's hugging! There will be photos later on... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:09 PM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, April 11, 2010

STARFEST 2010

Next weekend, Charlie and I will be attending a sci-fi convention in Denver. He has gone the last year or two, and this year will be on the program with a couple of presentations, one on Live Action Role Play gaming--make-believe with themes, for grownups--and something about zombies. I thought he meant to teach people how to act out zombies, but no: It is all about how to survive a zombie attack. He goes to see stars like Marina Sirtis (played Counselor Troy in STAR TREK: The Next Generation)... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:14 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, April 8, 2010

It has been over a month since we had a Postcard From Kabul--

Has anyone had any contact with Souljacker72? I am thinking of him and of a friend of mine who is also currently deployed in Afghanistan from whom I also hear too little. Through Souljacker's 'Postcards' the situation there has become more immediate and comprehensible. He has written about the exasperations of the military machine that runs sometimes, it seems, brainlessly, even stupidly, and of the kids and other local people he has seen and interacted with. Of what it is to be where he is,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:09 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, April 5, 2010

My son at play: Bedlam Knights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqalK38jWE My son sent me this. It is his gang of buddies... He is the blondish one often in a grey shirt, or black T--not the very blond young man with the cream colored plaid shirt. This is boffer melee, if you are wondering. The weapons are padded for safety, made of foam and tape over a core of... well it used to be rattan, now it is often some other strong but light material such as used to make golf clubs and kite spar. The metal shield you see here and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:53 AM | add or view comments (15) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, April 2, 2010

Spring Break: Exams

I've said before, about that aha! moment I experienced a few weeks ago that it was like a dislocated joint suddenly slipping back into place: suddenly the pain around which everything centered, is gone. Suddenly, life is about living, not about pain-management, pain-avoidance. This recent trip was, besides its own adventure, a chance to explore what has changed. To retake tests I have not done well on before. As so often happens, the Universe cooperated by letting me confront, among 34 strangers... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 12:34 PM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, March 29, 2010

Sick

I have slept and coughed away the past day and a half since I got back to the San Diego hostel. Fever, fuggy-mindedness, lost appetite--what a waste of time and opportunity! I am quite annoyed, between coughing spells. But I think it is clearing. Tomorrow it will be time to get on a plane home. Looking forward to my cats... I can certainly recommend this hostel: USA Hostel which has houses in San Diego, Las Vegas, Hollywood and San Francisco. The place is very professional at the same time as... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:11 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Final errands and packing this morning... off to the airport either this afternoon when my ride is headed past the airport anyway, with a stayover in a motel, or getting out of my own bed at 4AM and rousing a cranky driver to drive an hour+ for a 6:25 flight. Either way, the laptop doesn't fly with me this time. I remind you all, email me an address today, your own, ideally, and I might just get a postcard in the mail for you. I was down at the shop where my photos and photobooks are available... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:55 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

When I first wrote this, it was a literal moment expressed in poetry. Now, I offer it as a metaphor relevant to all of us in transitions, in springtimes of our own. FIRST The longer day grows it, cell by cell, pushing upwards through the forest mould insistent… Rising warmth unfurls it-- bashful but persistent-- into the last of winter’s chill: shy and white, a single dog’s-tooth violet. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 8:16 PM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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About this Blog

I'm doubtful the events of my life will be of great general interest, but I'd like to share a little more of me to the several of you on Blogit I've come to feel are real friends, and the many I imagine are potentially real friends. We'll see how it works out. ______________________ all my words and images posted on Blogit are copyright 2005-present, all rights reserved.

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