Hello friends and loyal followers : )
I wanted to update you all on the outcome of my "house-on-wheels".....GREAT NEWS....I am the proud owner of a tiny 13 ft. camper/trailer! I have a few angels to thank for their generosity and support....one of which is a very kind man I had not met before who happened to read my blog and contacted me to offer a generous donation and invitation to lunch. I gratefully accepted both and really am pleased that there are people among us who are able to give without anything in return....just wanting to give from the heart!!! : )
I am blessed to have loving parents and a very dear female friend back in Florida who is also facing financially challenging times, but like me....has faith that her and her family's needs will be met if she practices the art of sharing. My fears subside when I remind myself that there have been tough times in the past (the Great Depression is a recent example with survivors still present to tell their stories and to give hope that the poor can rise up and make their government respond to the demands of their constituents when the pain becomes too intolerable...I pray our tolerance level is lower today than it was 70 years ago) and there always will be times of struggle as long as there is injustice in our world.
So, I have my little camper and a place to park it and will work on making my new home and parking space a work of art and inspiration to others. My desire is to make a social commentary that BIGGER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER and a life of simplicity can actually lead to a more creative and liberating existence than the "tail-chasing" act of "living the American Dream"...a cycle of work and consume.
I will not be posting my ad on-line for now.....keep checking in on my blog to see what is happening in EMMA'S WORLD : )
HUGS & KISSES!!!!
BLISSFULLY,
EmMa : )
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Reflection
Reflection (noun) 1. a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration.
2. an image; representation; counterpart.
This word has taken personal meaning to me over the last few days (usually I am using that word in terms of me in a bigger context....my society, the world and life in general) as I try to evaluate what I need to do to bring stability back into my life.
On Friday I went to PCC Cascade campus to try to get into the Town Hall Forum on Health Care that my Congressman, Earl Blumenauer, and former VT Gov. Howard Dean hosted. This event was not newsworthy (no coverage of it either before, during or after by any news media outlet...even though a press release from Physicians for a National Health Program press release on 6/4/09 stated that 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were filed by middle-class and insured citizens) by either the television news outlets or the Oregonian. More important events like the Portland Rose Festival or someone losing their dog will get priority these days.
But I digress, so my Congressman announced over a week ago this health care town hall meeting and booked the event in a small venue holding something like under 250 seats and sent out emails to his list of interested people. Apparently there were so many requests that they had to hold a "lottery" (in my opinion it is like an election but done in secret...so it can be more selective of the winners) and secured an "overflow" room (in a building across the campus) where interested people could watch it on tv (might as well be watching it in the comfort of your own living room...what's the difference?).
Well, I was not one of the lucky few to get into the hall. I showed up to the event anyway and saw a lot of people who wanted to get in were left out like me. About 40 or 50 people were outside with signs requesting a Single Payer Universal Health Care Plan. This is not what any of the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, their lobbyists, Wall Street operators & investors, advertising-dependent television stations and the campaign-dollar-seeking politicians want. And in the end...that is what matters, not what a majority of doctors, health-care providers, grandparents, parents, working and certainly the poor want.
I mean, if we get socialized medicine we might start socializing banks, auto manufacturers and insurance companies (ooops...that's right we did that already with the taxpayer bailouts...but this is different) and then Americans would demand services like fire-fighting services, police protection services and then they would demand a multitude of organizations to protect them from outside invaders and conquers with say a fully armed and funded military!!! Geez....what was I thinking??
Ok...enough of the humor. Health care is a serious issue. I should know, I lost my great aunt because Humana Health "Care" (her insurer) refused to keep her hospitalized for her pneumonia (after her second trip to the hospital for the same problem) and she was found dead in her apt. My 7 year old nephew lost his battle with Leukemia even after chemo/radiation and finally a bone-marrow transplant. And I won't bore you with the numbers of women I know that have battled breast cancer, had hysterectomies (without consulting more than one physician for an opinion) and the people I meet who are Diabetic, on depression/anxiety medication or who battle obesity.
This is where the word "reflection" comes in. So, I had my camera with me and took pictures of the few but courageous folks who came out to let our Congressman know that we want "Medicare for All"...not this private/public mandate crud that the people in Mass. are unhappy with. I had my picture taken with a very sweet older gentleman who is very patriotic and has suffered his own injustices (unrelated to health system) and when I got home and saw the picture I was really upset. I have worked very hard to lose weight over the last 4 years and in the last year have re-gained 35 lbs. which is just unacceptable to me! Yes, my genetics predisposes me to being heavy but I am not going to let my gene-pool win over my desire to be healthy and happy.
Last night I was at the gym on the cardio equipment and watched a program on CNBC "Dirty Money" about the life of an escort. I recall this program being taped when I was in Chicago last summer for a sex-worker conference. CNBC even came to an erotic bookstore to film, former escort, Amanda Brooks, give a talk on her latest book (a how-to become an escort book) and I was in the audience (though they did not film our faces). Anyway, I watched most of the program and felt sad. I love being an "escort" "private companion" "intimacy confidant" whatever you want to call it. I am a natural at it and I am one who takes extreme caution in selecting the people I want to see (to help guarantee that I have just as good a time as the generous-kind men I meet) and pride myself on looking as good as I can be to be sure not to disappoint.
Well, I think I need go into retirement and put my high-heals on the shelf for now and invest in a new pair of running shoes and get down to business of taking care of myself and maybe resurface more enlightened and refined gifts to share!
My Eros ad will expire in a few days and will only be available to my blogging friends. Hopefully, those of you who have enjoyed reading the blog will keep reading!!! I will continue writing as I continue evolving and transforming!!!
Hugs & Kisses to all you sweet men out there!!!!
Sincerely,
Emma : )
2. an image; representation; counterpart.
This word has taken personal meaning to me over the last few days (usually I am using that word in terms of me in a bigger context....my society, the world and life in general) as I try to evaluate what I need to do to bring stability back into my life.
On Friday I went to PCC Cascade campus to try to get into the Town Hall Forum on Health Care that my Congressman, Earl Blumenauer, and former VT Gov. Howard Dean hosted. This event was not newsworthy (no coverage of it either before, during or after by any news media outlet...even though a press release from Physicians for a National Health Program press release on 6/4/09 stated that 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were filed by middle-class and insured citizens) by either the television news outlets or the Oregonian. More important events like the Portland Rose Festival or someone losing their dog will get priority these days.
But I digress, so my Congressman announced over a week ago this health care town hall meeting and booked the event in a small venue holding something like under 250 seats and sent out emails to his list of interested people. Apparently there were so many requests that they had to hold a "lottery" (in my opinion it is like an election but done in secret...so it can be more selective of the winners) and secured an "overflow" room (in a building across the campus) where interested people could watch it on tv (might as well be watching it in the comfort of your own living room...what's the difference?).
Well, I was not one of the lucky few to get into the hall. I showed up to the event anyway and saw a lot of people who wanted to get in were left out like me. About 40 or 50 people were outside with signs requesting a Single Payer Universal Health Care Plan. This is not what any of the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, their lobbyists, Wall Street operators & investors, advertising-dependent television stations and the campaign-dollar-seeking politicians want. And in the end...that is what matters, not what a majority of doctors, health-care providers, grandparents, parents, working and certainly the poor want.
I mean, if we get socialized medicine we might start socializing banks, auto manufacturers and insurance companies (ooops...that's right we did that already with the taxpayer bailouts...but this is different) and then Americans would demand services like fire-fighting services, police protection services and then they would demand a multitude of organizations to protect them from outside invaders and conquers with say a fully armed and funded military!!! Geez....what was I thinking??
Ok...enough of the humor. Health care is a serious issue. I should know, I lost my great aunt because Humana Health "Care" (her insurer) refused to keep her hospitalized for her pneumonia (after her second trip to the hospital for the same problem) and she was found dead in her apt. My 7 year old nephew lost his battle with Leukemia even after chemo/radiation and finally a bone-marrow transplant. And I won't bore you with the numbers of women I know that have battled breast cancer, had hysterectomies (without consulting more than one physician for an opinion) and the people I meet who are Diabetic, on depression/anxiety medication or who battle obesity.
This is where the word "reflection" comes in. So, I had my camera with me and took pictures of the few but courageous folks who came out to let our Congressman know that we want "Medicare for All"...not this private/public mandate crud that the people in Mass. are unhappy with. I had my picture taken with a very sweet older gentleman who is very patriotic and has suffered his own injustices (unrelated to health system) and when I got home and saw the picture I was really upset. I have worked very hard to lose weight over the last 4 years and in the last year have re-gained 35 lbs. which is just unacceptable to me! Yes, my genetics predisposes me to being heavy but I am not going to let my gene-pool win over my desire to be healthy and happy.
Last night I was at the gym on the cardio equipment and watched a program on CNBC "Dirty Money" about the life of an escort. I recall this program being taped when I was in Chicago last summer for a sex-worker conference. CNBC even came to an erotic bookstore to film, former escort, Amanda Brooks, give a talk on her latest book (a how-to become an escort book) and I was in the audience (though they did not film our faces). Anyway, I watched most of the program and felt sad. I love being an "escort" "private companion" "intimacy confidant" whatever you want to call it. I am a natural at it and I am one who takes extreme caution in selecting the people I want to see (to help guarantee that I have just as good a time as the generous-kind men I meet) and pride myself on looking as good as I can be to be sure not to disappoint.
Well, I think I need go into retirement and put my high-heals on the shelf for now and invest in a new pair of running shoes and get down to business of taking care of myself and maybe resurface more enlightened and refined gifts to share!
My Eros ad will expire in a few days and will only be available to my blogging friends. Hopefully, those of you who have enjoyed reading the blog will keep reading!!! I will continue writing as I continue evolving and transforming!!!
Hugs & Kisses to all you sweet men out there!!!!
Sincerely,
Emma : )
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A New Home
More than a month ago I left my little studio apartment and found another one for the month of May only. I have been trying to figure out how to survive in this economic downturn since I arrived here in November. Things have not worked out as I had predicted they would. It is as if I went from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak. I thought I was leaving a major economic disaster (Florida) for Ecotopia. Well, I was half-way right.
Portland is a vibrant, civilized and most "green" city I have ever visited (and lived in for 8 mo. in 2003). There are a number of things to do on any given night or day in this city. The list of active organizations here are too many to count but you can find them (one way is through Craigslist under the "community" listing) on just about any local coffeehouse bulletin board or front door window.
This city is so civilized. I know that is an unusual term to use, but it fits in this case. You rarely hear people in their cars honking at other drivers in traffic, for some stupid reason like not flooring the gas pedal after the red light turns green to race to the next stop light. Also, as a bike rider I don't experience car drivers getting impatient with me as I maneuver down some narrow streets. It is virtually impossible to go hungry in this city. There are numerous soup kitchens and food pantries to help the homeless & poor. And if I ever become physically handicapped, this city is extremely friendly with services & mobility options for people with needs. I recently watched a movie called "Music Within" (2007) which documents a man from Portland, OR (Richard Pimentel) who, after suffering his own physical disability, worked to craft the "Americans with Disabilities Act" and worked for the Governor of OR to teach employers how to hire & work with challenged people.
As far as "going green" is concerned I am very impressed with the continued efforts people in this city go to to cut their carbon foot-print and become more self-sufficient (especially when it comes to food). There is a huge push right now to grow food gardens and the City Council just passed an ordinance to allow a food garden to be grown on the City Hall property (around the rose plants). People are building chicken coops in their yards to produce their own eggs and an event is coming up in July "Tour de Coops" for a guided tour through a neighborhood to see some spectacularly built chicken coops. Pretty cool I think.
Now, my housing situation is not so good. I am trying to scrape together enough money to purchase a really sweet, but small, camper trailer. This way I can travel more and take my little home with me wherever I go. I am hoping to secure $1,500 (the camper price plus tag fees) in the next two weeks (I have until 6/14 to pay the seller). If you are interested in helping me acquire my little dream home please call for an appointment or if you wish to pre-pay for a meeting at some point in the future I am happy to keep you on my list of friends to thank properly ; )
Anyone who would like to contribute...please feel free to send your contribution to the following address: M.S. PO Box 1132, Portland, OR 97207. I hope you can help : )
Thanks!!!!
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoo
Blissfully yours,
Emma : )
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