We celebrated our friend Bebe's birthday with her at dinner & joined some of her friends at a dinner party the next evening. Bebe appeared in her trademark black leather pants & black turtle neck. Her regime of swimming, Pilate's & hiking keeps her in incredible shape. She is busy in the studio. She is continuing the astronomy theme of last year's successful show of collages, in a larger mixed media format of painting & collage. The first two look fantastic! Another show is scheduled for March. Go Bebe!!

TASF

We recently visited the little house which was purchased by the Tibetan Assn. of Santa Fe, one of the Tibetan organizations which we support. We met Rigzin, who gave us a tour: two classrooms, a kitchen and a small hall. The classrooms are mainly used to teach children the Tibetan language, a practice that is illegal in their native country. In the hall, three gentlemen were wrapping and organizing a great many sutras. They are going to be placed in slots in two big shelves built by Tashi, who we also met. Rigzin offered us tea and asked us to sit down. We spoke at length with about the preservation of the Tibetan culture and the genocide occurring at the hands of the Chinese in Tibet (please see my Nov. 08 posting). He asked for advice on fund raising and grant writing to support the classes. We hope to be able to help.

Monica Yunus performed a lieder recital at Rollins, sponsored by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. The collaborative artist was Gerald Steichen on piano. The MHF supports the "art song" tradition by teaching and promoting young singers. I happen to be a lieder nut, I have dozens of lieder CD's and am glad for the MHF's efforts. Yunus mapped a great program including an anthology of Italian song, some Debussy favorites of mine, and some Rachmoninoff that I had never heard. She was born in Bangldesh to a Russian mother and loves to sing in Russian! Oh, she grew up in New Jersey, where many great people hail from! Yunus is a member of the Met Opera company.

I just finished reading Joe Dispenza's Evolve Your Brain. He is the "create your day" speaker in "What the Bleep Do We Know". He gives mountains of information about the chemistry of the brain & the mind-body complex. He explores how habits and reactions get "hard-wired", what the yogis call samskara. My interest is in how to change them, neuro-plasticity, and he provides a template for this. Some interesting cross-cultural intersections with the visualization techniques in Tibetan Buddhist meditation practices.

Ayers Family Christmas

Debbie, Jessica & I traveled to Lodi, WI for the Ayers' Family Christmas. Some 30 gathered for a great party organized by D's brother Greg & his wife Angie. We then had a lot of fun at Darlene & Tim's home with lots of nieces & nephews & presents. J spent an evening at a pizza party with all the cousins and had a nice time. Lodi had a heat wave, up from -15 degrees the prior week to the high twenties, hooray!

Jessica & I visited Grandmom on the way home from college. Grandmom was thrilled to see Jessica & we all had a great time. We spent some time at Oakleaf & had some meals there. We also had a nice dinner with Randy & Amy in Greenville.

Tibetans' Struggle (how's your microwave?)

Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastary-IN-EXILE performed at Rollins. The performance ended with a monk's emotional statement about the purpose of the tour: 1) to raise money to support the monks in EXILE, 2) to raise awareness of the Tibetan struggle for human rights, autonomy, and, dare we hope, freedom. He reminded us that since the Chinese Communist invasion & occupation: 6,500 monastaries, libraries & schools were destroyed, 1.2 million Tibetans have been murdered or tortured to death, the Tibetan language is forbidden in schools, the Chinese language is the only legal language of commerce, & in the cities Tibetans are being relocated to ghettos as ancient neighborhoods are demolished to build high rises to house Chinese immigrants. This is GENOCIDE, and it is being perpetrated by our largest trading partner (how many things do you own that say "Made in China"??). There is only one way to escape from Tibet into exile: walk out over the mountains, risking frost-bite, starvation or execution. Last year Tibetan nuns were gunned down in a pass in front of German mountain climbers who filmed it. Why would the Chinese be so flagrant? Because they can, with no consequence, because we need their toasters. How can you help? I focus on two organizations: The Tibet Fund, which provides food, shelter, medical & education care for exiles, and Int'l Campaign for Tibet, which works hard to free thousands of political prisoners & to lobby for basic human rights in Tibet. I know, I know, there are plenty of horrors around the world. But, here's an ancient, peaceful, spiritual land that is being systematically obliterated by the people who make the appliances and clothes in your home. It's worth your attention.