Wednesday, May 30, 2007

BIRTHDAY MAYHEM!

My 23rd was celebrated in style. See for yourself, below:



the spot.



ms. escalante *sizzle sizzle*

i'm at 12 o'clock. shannon treated me to a mani/pedi :)

eu adoro voces! sandy and liz





sticky rice has become somewhat of a delicacy here in brasil. we were overjoyed, to say the least.



i heart this woman, too. candace, you're my girl!!

god, mattie is so into me.


ainye. or ms. long if you're nasty.





shan, my righthand woman, was like the best part of my birthday. not only did she spoil me rotten, but she kept me beaming all day- luv you baby! :)


beijos!


me being silly

that's a little better :)

happy birthday to me!!



me, lost in deep thought.

the snoozy couple

another snoozy couple- ms. shan and romeo

liz passed out from all the excitement. apparently, it was too much to handle. here's supermatt!

luz de cidade.

Monday, May 28, 2007

CACHOEIRA WONDERLAND....

The following details one of the bi-monthly excursions I partook in, this time, to Lencois. Despite the brevity of the trip, we managed to have a gallavanting good time. We hiked up tall cliffs, traipsed through black caves, ziplined across emerald waters, swam in and out of cachoeiras (waterfalls) and soaked in beaming rays of the Brasilian sun. Que bellissimo!

surmounting.

the summit



look, ma!

mattie; dangling.

minha amor, shannon

Lencois; praca.





ms. lizzy poo aka 'slaughter' and moi.

mattie's on one!

shan'wich.

our dear friend and program director extraordinaire, Clara

liza and kyla, breakin it down to samba

exterior of the cave we visited.

let there be luz

chess pieces.

angel wings.

a grave.


the light at the end of the tunnel


ascension

aquajewels

candy doing what candy does best :)

i hate my braces! but yeah, i was forced to smile with my teeth :)


violeta


orange blossoms.


ainye, cheesin'

royal majesty.


mattie; liftoff

cachoeirita

...and Kyla, caught in a candid moment, who had to miss out on the fun. :( awww!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

DO NOT GO GENTLE...

I have been making a greater attempt to more regularly update this blog, and to not only put up a plethora of pictures in the attempts of telling a visual collective, but to actually share what's on my mind- that which either causes me to furrow my brow in distress or causes joy to reverberate deep within my soul. Hence, the title- rosesandbliss, which signals, for those of you wondering, my precocious infatuation for the search of self, and the proclaimed adoration for the singular most expression of love and beauty- the rose. I chanced upon my journal today, the pink one entitled "musings", which was entirely filled up within a month's time. Filled to the brim with those perpendicular meanderings of the palpitating soul, it was my love story, the re-discovery of self, the most honest and poignant thing I have ever confessed. And in so doing, I became vivid, renewed, completely revitalized to live life, to taste life as it had never been tasted before, to experience it kinesthetically and intuitively. I vowed to honor the art of introspection, of naked honesty and to wax philosophic, to wax poetic, to live frankly and earnestly up to the virtues I had avowed to myself, to my God.

*I am a work in progress*

Aren't we all?

I wanted to, more than anything, share my next favorite poem, (my absolute favorite being T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" if you care to know) composed by Dylan Thomas. It touched me deeply, as I reread the lines:


Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightening they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

God, it still gives me chills...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

SHANNON AND THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF FOOD COMA...

Shannon could kill me for doing this, but I just had to:

So, Shan's at my house, and we're talking on my bed, having another one of our "fireside chats". Suddenly, amidst concerted conversation, she interrupts me: "Hey, J, sweetie, I hate to interrupt you, but I am reallly reaaallly hungry. Do you have something I could eat?" Immediately I jump up, (ok, fine, after I finish my riveting tale of lies and deception- haha), and go to the kitchen, arranging for her a generous plate of pot roast, spaghetti, and salad. After dining, we go out onto the balcony, and watch the sunset:


it's pretty rad.



As we sit and watch the dizzying array of colors mishmashed into one spectacular scene of hues, I notice her increasingly descending slump. "Shannon, whatever could be the matter?" "Ooooh," she answers. "I think I've done it again!"

We think that for a moment, she could be preggers. Here is mother and "child".

"I must lay down," she declares. And so she does, her body groaning in travail. (Wow, that was some plate of spaghetti!)

Behold: The Look of a Woman in Pain


An hour later, I return, to find a passed-out Shannon! buahhahahahahah!!!!!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

AMOR is in the air....

I wanted to extend a quick tribute to two people i love: Shanstar and her amore- ROMEO (yes, that's his real name). click on the picture to enlarge- you might even find me up in the mix :)