Happy for the small things

  I have the day off today and stayed up way late last night watching Craig Ferguson.  Just not having to work and enjoy my coffee without the rush off life is a treat!  I am so fortunate to have my own little studio apartment and my car that is falling apart (but I have a car!)  In these days of recession living in the second hardest hit state with unemployment in the country, it is indeed the small things in life to celebrate!  I can choose to see how many packets of soup my two dollars will buy me, and play the game of seeing how many red lights I can avoid so I don't have to touch my broken brakes.  But that's the whole point...I can.  At least I have the two dollars, and the car that is noisely falling apart, the bills I can't keep up with, and the apartment I am always on the verge of losing.  I'm not sitting on a dirt road in an underdeveloped country, unable to find food and sitting, unsafe in the elements, where harm can easily find me.  I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Providence...tough, working class, and movie bound

Ahhh Providence. What can I say about our little capitol. It started off as a seedy, gang infested area, too dangerous to travel at night and the 3rd most violent city in the country, to a hopping, cultured art and music scene with quite a bit less seedy and gang infested areas. The difference has been amazing and we've come a long way. Surviving enough crooked politics to inspire a movie (for real) and unspeakable losses like The Station Nightclub fire tragedy in Warwick, we plug ahead, iced coffee in hand.
RISD, (considered one of the best art schools in the country) is on the East Side and has produced students from David Byrne (The Talking Heads) to Gus Van Sant (Goodwill Hunting and Milk) to Barnaby Evans (creator of Waterfire.) The entire HBO series 'Brotherhood of The Hill' was filmed in Providence's Federal Hill and many films have been, and continue to be shot here. Steven Speilberg was drawn here to film 'Amistad,' Brad Pit for 'Meet Joe Black', Jim Carrey for 'Me, Myself and Irene', and of course 'There's Something About Mary.'
It must be the geography....30 minutes any way will get you from the beach, to the city, to the country and urban downtown. I have met people from California who say the skies here are just as blue as theirs, and people from Ireland say the rugged coast and famous seafood remind them of there homeland. one
Right now though we continue to have the highest unemployment rate in the country (finally dropping to 12%, at one time being 14%) Every day is a struggle for this mostly working class state, but we know there are worse situations in the world like Haiti, and the people here still want to give and give. We are blessed. We are lucky. And we are always thinking thinking of others.

Haiti

Hi,

Sorry it's been a while; going to try and write on a more regular basis. Just thinking of the people in Haiti and how their world has changed. My school is going to be setting up a fundraiser to help by collecting donations and packages. So happy we now have a president who will jump in and help, like the real, everyday American people would want. Their tragedy and extraordinary strength has moved us all. May God Bless them tonight.

Goodnight from Rhode Island

The art of coffee and swearing

Yes, a couple things Rhode Island is known for are the people's implicit love of coffee ( and never missing a day) and swearing a lot. But by no means are these the only two things. Little Rhody is a mostly working class, blue color state with people that work hard, live by the water, are used to brutal winters, and put family first. Yes, when you come here, people will appear rude like those in New York (think of us as the mini-version) and make no mistake about it, they are rude. But more importantly if you get past the accent, the swearing, and crusty nature, when you make a friend in Rhode Island, you are likely to have that friend for life. Unlike, our West Coast, twig eating, sun baked, fake- boobed, me- centered LA counterparts (of course I'm speaking in gross generalities) where relationships tend to lean more on the transient side, you can count on your new thick shelled, coffee drinking, pull-no-punches Rhode Island friend to be there when you need help, and always offer a couch to stay on, and be there when things really get tough.

Rhode Island...smallest state....explosive happenings

Hello Everyone!

I won't be able to write to much tonight as I am dog tired (like everyone I'm sure) from working with kids all day long. Just wanted to say hello from the smallest state in the US! Most people can't find it on the map. (It's an hour south of Boston to give you an idea.) I can't wait to tell you all the stuff that goes on here...the past, the politics, the art and music scene, the people...not what you would expect from the smallest state!
Oh, and I have a gianormous Maine Coon, Siamese mix kitty named Koobie. He is my sidekick and he's sitting here right now. He says hi. Have a wonderful day or night (depending on where you are) and

Goodnight from Rhode Island!

First sentence...

Hello world out there!

This will be short and sweet. Just set up a blog for the first time so just seeing if this works. Oh wicked cool! you can even change the color of the text. Anyway, I will introduce myself more once I know I did this right. Hello to evenyone again and hope all had a Happy New Year!

J