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  1. Columbus Rocks!

    October 14, 2010 by elenamary

    Today, I was at a conference and got a sense that those in HR at some pretty large organizations don’t realize how much of an easy sell Columbus, Ohio is.

    We rock.  Seriously, here is my Thursday of which I’ll only to be able make it to those things starred.

    *8am-4pm Ohio Hispanic Leaders Conference (where Mayor of Columbus, Mike Coleman, showed up and blasted Arizona’s racist laws—love him!)       Left the conference on bike and rode through the Short North Arts District to my house and passed Mayor Coleman on High Street where he was in a pedicab.

    330pm Triathlon Run Practice

    445pm-12am Triathlon Hay Ride, Pumpkin picking, Bonfire etc.

    *6pm-9pm Columbus Underground Happy Hour at Z Cucina.

    *7pm-930pm  Bad Movie Night at Junctionview.

    9pm-11pm  Joke Jams (Stand-up comedy) at Kafe Kerouac.

    *9pm-2am Pierced Arrows/Sandwich/The Ferals (Indie Punk Rock Music) at The Summit.

    *10pm-1130pm Radical Movie Night presents, Female Trouble at the Sporeprint Infoshop.

    Of course there are lots of other venues with music and art tonight, but the list above are solely the things I’m interested in attending today that I didn’t have to research.  I know for example if I looked at the Wexner Center’s page, they are almost assuredly showing an international indie film that I’d enjoy seeing, but for me it is better to not know what I am missing, and enjoy what I can.

    I take it to heart when people bad mouth Columbus, we have a lot to enjoy in this city…my problem is never finding what to do, but time to fit in everything I want to do.

    Category art, Ohio, personal | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  2. Miles Curtiss for University Area Commissioner

    June 5, 2009 by elenamary

    My very good friend, Miles Curtiss is running for University Area Commissioner.  Those living between High street to the train tracks, and from 5thAve to 16thAve, can vote for Miles Curtiss.  All you have to do is show up, this Saturday, with either your Buck-ID, or other photo ID, or mail at one of the voting locations (listed below).

    Elenamary & Miles

    Voting Locations:

    Metropolitan Library, Northside Branch
    1423 N. High Street, Columbus

    Jack & Benny’s Restaurant
    2563 N High St @ Hudson & High

    Northwood Building, Election Headquarters
    2231 N. High Street

    The Godman Guild
    303 E. Sixth Street

    I’m Miles Curtiss, a native of the Columbus, a musician, community
    organizer, and third generation chronic do-gooder.  I work with
    FreeGeek Columbus,  The University Area Enrichment Association, The
    Ohio Community Computing Network, and Columbus IndyMedia, mostly
    helping under resourced  people and communities get access to, and
    training for, computers, self publishing, and e-waste recycling.  I’m
    also very active with Yay Bikes, The Third Hand Bike Co-Op, Arawak
    City Gardens and other groups centered around transportation and
    fighting poverty.   In the past, I’ve been involved with the Columbus
    League Of Young Voters, and the BLD artist co-operative.  I’ve been
    drawn to the university area for it’s energy, it’s creative capital,
    and it’s easy maneuverability.  It is a place where tens of thousands
    come every year to become independent.  After finishing my own
    university experience, this is the place I immediately came to.  This
    neighborhood has always glowed with a “make your own future” ethic
    that has informed me ever since I was old enough to walk from downtown
    to the campus area record stores.

    Category art, language, Ohio, personal, Politics, race, sexuality, womyn | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Taquerias in Columbus Ohio

    August 24, 2008 by elenamary

    I read an article and was subtly offended by it but I didn’t have a way to articulate why. I’ve been thinking about the article since I read it on Thursday. Then today while driving to pick-up a friend of mine who hangs out with a lot of hipsters, it hit me. What would it be like if I picked up a Spanish language newspaper written by some Latinos who wrote of hipsters moving into their neighborhood and what they were like, and how they viewed their new neighbors and asked them what they thought of racism?

    The article is about a photographer Alexandra Copley (her Taqueria blog), who currently has a photography exhibit of taco trailers around Columbus, Ohio. I want to make it clear, I am not offended by Alexandra Copley’s work. It is more that I have a sense of my people being displayed as other worldly as entertainment like zoo animals.

    It reminds me of a night when I was hanging out with a bunch of international students from Latin America who were attending OSU, when some sorority girls stopped and seemed entertained at watching us play dominoes, share food, and speak in Spanish. One of the girls said excitedly “I feel like it’s Culture awareness night!” She didn’t mean it as offensive and she was a sweet enough person but it made me uncomfortable. This article gives me a similar feeling, as does the idea of the exhibit. What are the true thoughts of hipsters and yuppies who go that gallery? How do they actually view people of color? What do they gain from the exhibit?

    Category art, language, Latinos, Ohio, personal, Politics | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

  4. Beauty of education

    August 17, 2008 by elenamary

    I sat with a friend who did his bachelors in electrical engineering and with another friend who is an English professor. Engineering friend was trying to convince English prof friend that solving a challenging math problem can sometimes be as beautiful and fulfilling as reading a wonderful novel. He was right, and she couldn’t see it. Not because she isn’t brilliant (the contrary) but because she had never learned math the way he had.

    I was terrible at math. Absolutely horrible. In college I tested into pre-college algebra but I worked my way through the high level math classes required for a BS in economics. There were moments of beauty in math. Moments where I saw things in ways I never had. I saw logic in ways I never knew were possible and it was astounding and satisfying. I cried in an economics course a few years ago, because I was astounded at how differently I was viewing things. On Thursday, in organic chemistry, I had a similar yet completely new moment of awe, where I found myself filled with wonder. I was seeing the molecules, I could picture them, their movements, their arrangements, the natural art of it all something I never knew that existed. It is an overwhelming feeling of bewilderment when you realize that this beauty has always been there and not only could you have never comprehended it before, you didn’t even know it existed.

    It brought home my mother’s advice that I often quote, no one can ever take away your education. Even if I were to fail this class, or never go back, or lose everything, I would still have a different perspective because of chemistry. I will look at all problems differently not just chemistry but literature, language, math, art, they are all intertwined. This moment of lucidity also fortified that education needs to be free and accessible to all ages.

    Our education shouldn’t be a career training path that is predetermined but one that is flexible and encourages us to grow and view things differently. If our citizens want to take a class on the Bible as literature, or microbiology, it shouldn’t be required that they be grad students in English, or Nursing students. Instead it should be offered because if we have a well rounded, well educated society, we can view things from an interweaved and poetic perspective.

    Category art, personal | Tags: , | 7 Comments

  5. A Dream Lies Dead

    August 10, 2008 by elenamary

    I received The Portable Dorthy Parker, for my birthday yesterday.

    I share with you a poem from the book:

    A DREAM LIES DEAD

    A dream lies dead here. May you softly go
    Before this place, and turn away your eyes,
    Nor seek to know the look of that which dies
    Importuning Life for life. Walk not in woe,
    But, for a little, let your step be slow.
    And, of your mercy be not sweetly wise
    With words of hope and Spring and tenderer skies.
    A dream lies dead; and this all mourners know:



    Whenever one drifted petal leaves the tree–
    Though white of bloom as it had been before
    And Proudly waitful of fecundity–
    One little loveliness can be no more;
    And so must Beauty bow her imperfect head
    Because a dream has joined the wistful dead!

    Category art, personal | Tags: | 2 Comments

  6. Local Art Show, C-Note

    March 1, 2008 by elenamary

    Zero (El-Amin Asadi) has created new art work, as he describes it, “Pencil powered mayhem”. It is to me some of his best work. My favorite piece of his is not available for viewing online but, I believe, will be up at the C-Note Art Show.

    His pieces are raw and sometimes, painful for me to look at. They are frequently self reflections and the anguish is clearly evident. I find myself with a familiar pain and compassion that is too much to bear and am forced to look away.

    C-Note is having both an online on art show, where you can vote for your favorite artists.

    PS Remember, Columbus is the Indie Art Capital of the World. Support local artists!

    (more…)

    Category art, Ohio, personal | Tags: , | No Comments