Trickster's Rhetoric
I'm an ex-art student and aspiring novelist. This blog is a random assortment of photos and musings about art, creativity, politics & culture that I find interesting or inspiring (and they are usually not mine unless I say so).
Interspersed are some things about being healthy (90% of the time I'm a plant-based vegan and the other 10% is for booze and dessert) & I'm too lazy to create a separate blog just for fitblr stuff (if you must know i'm 5'3 and my UGW is 107-110). I like yoga.

Carpe Diem.
Trickster's Rhetoric
This Girl Lost Her Mom, Her Grandma, And Her Hearing. So Why Is This Rock Band Playing Her A Song?
"Walking Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal

After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement.
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.

Well — one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?


The minute she heard any words she knew — however poorly used —
She stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been cancelled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,

Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her — southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies — little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts — out of her bag —
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler form California,
The lovely woman from Laredo — we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers —
Non-alcoholic — and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American — ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend — by now we were holding hands —
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate — once the crying of confusion stopped
— has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost."

Naomi Shihab Nye, “Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal” (via words-in-lines)

I love this so much…got to have dinner with Naomi once… :)

grasstomyknees:

queerfatfemme:

 



randomverbose:

BiBi McGill
Beyoncé’s Lead Guitarist and Musical Director.
Yoga Teacher, Entrepreneur, Founder of Bibi’s Kale Chips
Owner of the most badass deep purple afro I have ever seen.
That’s a whole lot of awesome for one person. Love her.





I’m friends with her on Facebook. She is so kind.
neighborhoodr-chicago:

o
absurdlakefront:

axelrod:

canttuchthis:

twolimesplease:


Chicago, it’s happening. (diversey+clark)



SHUT. UP.

I’m looking forward to this, though I miss The Counter.
marnauc:


The Fitzgeralds, Christmas.



I want to hug this photo!
ZoomInfo
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
aminahmae:

thislyfe:


Taking Back Idiot Nerd Girl
I thought this was a super interesting take on the meme, seen as how I was at one point a novice too.
[x]



Congrats: You’ve become the people who harassed you in high school
myfitnesschronicles:

it-grrl:

likethewater:

followthesmokesignals:

danisnotontop:

one-angry-liberal:

night-cheese-in-the-tardis:

happinessoverhostility:

These are real fucking stallions. 




This picture is great from the start, and then you realize that they’re literally wearing her shoes and it makes it that much better. 

This is beautiful. 

They look better than me in heels

I will never not reblog this.

So much love.

Yes. Just, yes. Well done, sirs.

The shoes are what kills it
positive-press-daily:

 A battery-powered car has broken the UK land-speed record for electric vehicles at Elvington airfield near York, its makers have said.

The Nemesis, a heavily-modified Lotus Exige which was originally bought off eBay, clocked an average speed of 151.6mph (244km/h). The car was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers in Norfolk, and driven by estate agent Nick Ponting, 21, from Gloucestershire.
The old record was 137mph (220km/h). The vehicle clocked 151.607mph during two runs along the mile-long course. During an earlier attempt it managed an average speed of 148.419mph
Mr Ponting said: “It was brilliant. The car felt really good. The conditions were perfect. We’ve smashed the record and then gone and done a second run and done it again. The acceleration is phenomenal. It gets to the top speed very quickly.”
The car runs on green electricity which has been generated by wind turbines, run by the Stroud-based company Ecotricity. Dale Vince from Ecotricity said: “We built the Nemesis to smash the stereotype of electric cars as something Noddy would drive - slow, boring, not cool.” The previous record had been held by Don Wales, the grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell.
An attempt by Mr Wales’s son, Joe Wales, to beat the record in Bluebird Electric last year, was thwarted after the vehicle’s suspension was damaged by a pothole at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire.
The record still needs to be ratified by the Motor Sports Association before the record can be officially declared.
thecutestlittlethings:

Oh god .-.
This looks so amazing.

Homo-cakes!
mothernaturenetwork:

 Japanese man travels round the world on public transport 
A 106-year-old Japanese man has become the oldest person to have traveled around the world using public transportion, a report said Friday.
 
Saburo Shochi has been recognized by Guinness World Records for his feat, which saw him travel through North America, Europe and Africa, the Mainichi daily said.
 
With dozens of his supporters hailing his return at Fukuoka airport in southwest Japan, the centenarian said with a big smile: “I will live more.”
 
Shochi, a professor emeritus at Fukuoka University of Education, started traveling frequently at the age of 99, giving lectures on child education and health in foreign countries, the Mainichi said.
 
Shochi, who celebrated his 106th birthday on Thursday, said: “In my whole life, I have never said ‘I’m tired’.”


Wow. Fantastic.
derringer-darling:

Fuck yes.

Yes !
ZoomInfo
karenhor:

Esther Quek, womanmade
karenhor:

Esther Quek, womanmade
karenhor:

Esther Quek, womanmade
washingtonpoststyle:

Today, in one image. Women in Riyadh watch Sarah Attar, the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in track and field in the Olympics. Here’s how she did in the 800m race.
Photo by Fayez Nureldine (Getty)
Correction: This post originally said that Attar was the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete at the Olympics; she is the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in track and field at the Olympics.