standing for something

Puerto Rico has a critical shortage of nurses. the nurses we do have are overworked and underpaid and end up leaving the island seeking better jobs in the US.

my family has had the amazing honor (and luck) of having the help of 2 of the nurses that decide to stay in PR and help. They take care of my mother, each for 12 hours at a time, and have given me my sanity back.

these two women, and particularly one of them, have changed my life. not only because their help allows me time to myself, but because they became a part of my extended family. they give me advice, they help me nonstop, and they give my mother the best care i cannot do myself.

why someone choses to do such a selfless and important job is beyond me. but it gives me hope. because my mom is just one of many patients whose lives they've touched. so maybe that makes it worth it. i just know that for me, they are a beacon of something better for all of us.

cheesesteak, i still love you

at my former job i had the pleasure of working with an editor who i got along with fabulously, and who used to play John Mayer Live during our often very long producing sessions.

he used to tell me John Mayer has soul, that i should open my ears.

well, editor friend, i got Continuum, and you were oh so incredibly right.
holy shit what a good album.

thanks.

ain't no sunshine

i've been totally disconnected from my friends. it's making my life monotonous.

I go to class, I study, I nap, I play chess, I caretake, I sleep.

I need my friends back.
there's no excuse.

my boyfriend gave me Tolstoy for Valentine's day.

ladies and gentlemen, i have officially found the love of my life.

extra sensitive

the people i live with are obsessed with news and politics. all day and all night, the war, the republicans, the media, the statehood-pushers, the tabloids, rosie.
we fight about it, and we beat the deadest of horses.
gay marriage, abortion, the military, the Puerto Rico corruption problem, Pedro Roselló, stem cell, cancer, health care.
I live my life in a perpetual Debate Class.

i've been looking for an escape. i take a painting class on Fridays, i study at school, i read depressing books, and i sleep at my boyfriend's house half the week.

you'd think this would help.

it doesn't. my painting class last friday was chock-full of drama, when i lost my vision during a dizzy spell for the third time in a week, apparently due to some endocrine issues.
studying at school has proven to be ok, except i have to overdose on coffee, and wear a coat since it's 20 degrees in the library.
as for my books, i'm going through a particularly profilic period, where i read on average 2 books a week, but my latest choice, Patrimony by Phillip Roth, is non-fiction account of the death of his father from a brain tumor. Smart choice, Cristina.
and finally, sleeping over at J's house has been lovely. except we recently decided to take up chess, which has led to extremely competitive 3-hour games, followed by inevitable crankiness when someone loses, followed by some lack of talking, followed by an eventual reconciliation. it's a pattern.

i need to find better ways to distract myself.